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All Ends With Beginnings Pt.1

By SaltAnon
Created: 2020-12-08 04:57:50
Expiry: Never
/aie/horror

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  2.  
  3. >You are Twilight Sparkle.
  4. >You are overflowing with ecstatic joy. It isn’t often you get to study new creatures, despite the fact there are so many in Equestria. What makes it better is that this creature is a Human!
  5. >An ape like creature thought to be mythical by most, and extinct by a select few who you would consider pseudo-scientific until a day ago!
  6. >Standing corrected could wait! You were practically bouncing up and down the Celestia forsaken walls when you heard you were being given a chance to study it!
  7. >Not surprising being the Princess’s number one student, and for about seven months now, Princess of Friendship!
  8. >It’s not only a perfect opportunity to learn about a new species, their culture, language, etc. But the chance to show this new species all the benefits of friendship with Pony Kind!
  9. >You take a sip from your cup, the tea warming your throat and soothing your tired vocal chords. Giving them a comfort greatly needed after all the work you’ve put them through, talking the ears off your two poor friends heads.
  10. >”I don’t know Twilight, Humans sound kinda’ scary! I mean, their myths are all about them being big bullies to one another! So many wars, mean Gods who slaughter their followers, and they eat meat! Oh those poor animals!”
  11. >Your friend Fluttershy has been expressing a lot of worry about this trip. Anxious from both being only one of the three of you who would get to meet this new being, that and the undoubted truth that these creatures aren’t exactly known for their good stories.
  12. >The poor butter colored pegasus was shivering under her pink mane, how sad it was to see her in such a state.
  13. “Everything will be fine Fluttershy,”
  14. >You try to console your timid friend.
  15. “even if this creature is harmful, he has the ability to walk around the palace. Which I should remind you is full of guards and the Princesses. Not to mention that these creatures had to rely heavily on their technology and numbers to do any real harm! I’ve read a lot on their myths and seen diagrams, their bodies aren’t all that impressive when it comes to individual prowess.”
  16. >You give a smile to your shivering friend.
  17. >She eases a bit but isn’t too swayed by your reassurance.
  18. >”W-well I know that Twilight. I-it’s just, we don’t know hardly anything about them! And what we DO know, is nothing but meanness and bullying! Hay, we don’t even have Rarity, Applejack, or Rainbow Dash on this trip! And we weren’t even told why!”
  19. >She had a point.
  20. >You six usually did everything together, no matter how bad it was.
  21. >Nightmare Moon, Discord, your brother’s wedding with Cadence, etc.
  22. >And the few letters you’ve received were of very little help of describing why you couldn’t bring those three specifically on the trip. A fact that greatly annoyed Rainbow.
  23. >She complained up and down how dangerous they were in their stories, just as Fluttershy was worrying about, and she no doubt wanted to tag along just so she can make sure her friends are okay.
  24. >You appreciate her loyalty but that mare can be so hot headed at times.
  25. “Princess Celestia was very adamant in her letters about only you me and Pinkie Pie coming on this trip. I’m certain she knows what she is doing, and have a perfect reason as to why Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity had to stay, and why us three had to go.”
  26. >Speaking of your third friend, the party mare decided to jump into the conversation at this time.
  27. >”Yea Fluttershy! I mean sure these Humans fight all the time, but they also apparently throw just the most AMAZING parties! Lot’s of drinking and music and dancing and drinking and games and drinking and shows and food and drinking and clothes and sweets and did I mention the DRINKING! AAAHHHHH, I can’t wait to meet him slash her, so we can both be best best friends, and he slash she and I can make a bunch of jokes and laugh and have a big awesome party!”
  28. >Pinkie gasps at a sudden realization.
  29. >”OH-OH! And because they’re new, I get to throw a welcome to EQUESTRIA PARTY!!!”
  30. >You swear you hear a squee as your pink friend’s mouth grows into a large smile. One that seems almost impossible to fit on her face.
  31. “Pinkie’s right Fluttershy, Humans may not be all that bad! Besides, who’s to say this Human won’t be good?”
  32. >The mare contemplates, putting a hoof to her muzzle.
  33. >”You maybe right Twi, I don’t know why I get so upset. Maybe it won’t be so bad? Besides, even if it is dangerous, I still have you two to help keep me safe.”
  34. >This makes you smile. Fluttershy was such a worrier, you know this, Tarturus, Shy is literally her name. Yet, she was the kindest pony you’ve ever met, well deserving of her element.
  35. >You always enjoyed being around her and your friends. Her kindness is probably one of the reasons so was chosen to come along on the journey.
  36. >”SEE? You’re coming around you silly filly! You’re friends are always here for you, and even if they are party animals, we’ll show that bald ape the good ol’ one two if they try to hurt ya’!” Pinkie exclaimed.
  37. >A chuckle escapes your lips at this. Your Pink friend was always one to make you laugh even in the moodiest of times.
  38. >She wasn’t just the life of the party, she was the party. While she can be annoying in someways, you don’t judge her.
  39. >You’ve even learned to not question all the quirky and weird ways she seems to bend the fabric of reality. Boy wasn’t that a day when you tried to figure out how her tail twitching a certain way could predict objects falling from the sky?
  40. >Maybe her laughter was also a reason for her to visit.
  41. >The day dragged on from there, the train slowly making its way to Canterlot.
  42. >You continue to talk to your friends and ponder how the meeting will take place.
  43. >Princess Celestia was a little more vague when she wrote to you in her letters. She claimed she would explain everything when you three arrived to the castle.
  44. >You run through everything she told you in the letters.
  45. >You don’t know how old this Human is, however Princess Celestia refers to the Human as ‘he’ and ‘him’ so, you know it’s male.
  46. >She explained that he was found wondering the Canterlot Gardens at night and was found by Princess Luna whilst on one of her little night walks.
  47. >She explains very strange behavior and being concerned about him. It makes sense to you.
  48. >How would you react if you were thrown in some different world and had no idea how you got there?
  49. >This brings you to your next point. How he arrived. Neither of the Princesses know how he arrived in the gardens, and none of the guards on shift seemed to know either. The Human also expresses that he doesn’t know either, or is intentionally leaving out how he did if he knows.
  50. >He was able to express this by the way, because he knows Ponish! Some how. Ponish is the lingua franca of Equestria and surrounding lands, so it isn’t shocking another creature speaks it, but he’s seemingly out of this world, so knowing the language is very strange.
  51. >So, you’re dealing with a male human of an undetermined age. Seemingly not from your world at all, with either no memory of how, or the method used to get him here. Or if he does, he isn’t saying. And he speaks ponish. Other than that, and the fact that he isn’t sitting in the dungeon right now for trespassing on royal property is all you know. This last fact gives you relief as it shows the Princesses at least trust him enough to not be in a prison.
  52. >Now to mentally run through the terms of your visit.
  53. >Celestia has specifically requested the aid of Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and you, Twilight Sparkle, to come to meet and study this creature for the next week and see what you can get out of him and hopefully ‘offer him’.
  54. >’offer him’
  55. >A strange use of words. You assume she means friendship, or advice, or maybe even a way to get home? You don’t know any trans dimensional teleportation spells.
  56. >Even Starswirled the bearded couldn't take on such a task. Most of his spells like that failed.
  57. >Princess Celestia also requested that the other three of your friends stay behind. The previously mentioned Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity.
  58. >This confused you, and you tried to make it clear that whatever needed to be done, you could all do together.
  59. >The Princess would have none of it though. She put her hoof down expressing only you three came, excluding even Spike, your number one assistant!
  60. >You hope that baby dragon is okay. He also seemed very worried when he learned what you were about to go and do. All your friends did.
  61. >Applejack was more confused, being less aware of Humans outside a few tales.
  62. >Rarity went on about being thankful she didn’t have to meet this “beast”, but lamented over you doing so.
  63. >Though she also asked of you to describe the details of the Humans clothing. An odd aspect of Humans was that they didn’t only wear clothes for special occasions, but all the time. The boutique owner would ask to understand the thinking and design of alien clothing.
  64. >As previously mentioned, Rainbow Dash was annoyed, maybe even a little mad she wouldn’t get to go on the trip either. She wanted to be there just in case anything bad would happen.
  65. >So, it was just you three. You, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, on a train, headed to the capitol.
  66. >You finish the rest of your tea and place the cup on the saucer in front of you with a clink.
  67. >You stare out at the rolling mountains, their tops being covered in bright snow.
  68. >Celestia was beginning to set her sun, and Luna, beginning to raise her moon. You’ve seen them perform the spell before, during the summer sun celebration, how quick it seemed up close. But from far away is seemed like it was happening in slow motion.
  69. >The sky was a gradient of a deep orange red color near the horizon to a purple that matched your coat as it moved higher in the clouds.
  70. >Your mind raced about everything you would do during this meeting. All the questions you’d ask and all the things you’d show him. Hardly a once in a life time opportunity, and you get to experience it.
  71. >The quiet vibrations from the train along with the beautiful painting of a sky outside your window relaxed you.
  72. >Your eyes almost begin to close when you hear a very audible yawn come from your pink friend.
  73. >”Pfewie! I’m sleepy! Too many sweets in my tummy.” Pinkie yawned, rubbing her belly with a satisfied smile on her lips.
  74. >”Oh, I think I agree,” Fluttershy yawned as well, covering her mouth with her hoof. “what about you Twilight? Are you coming back to the cabin?”
  75. >You couldn’t deny it. Though you were extremely excited, today was a long day. All that packing and saying good bye to the three friends you left behind. A long with you three talking and eating you did while on the train.
  76. >You let out a tired sigh. “Yea, I suppose it has been a long day. We should go to bed, we’ll have a longer one in the morning, what with studying a new species and all.”
  77. >You exit the dining car and head over to the first class cabin.
  78. >Being a princess has it’s perks.
  79. >Reaching your bed, you climb in and get snuggled up, closing the velvet curtain, shutting yourself off from the rest of the room. You hear Pinkie and Fluttershy climb into their bunks.
  80. >After some quick good nights to each other, you drift off to sleep, dreaming of the days to come and all the information you’ll get to learn.
  81. >The next morning has barely even started. The sun hasn’t even risen over the horizon once the Train finally comes to a stop.
  82. >You and your friends gather your things and step onto the platform. Canterlot’s buildings are towering over you, all of them works of art.
  83. >Walls of white with roofs of a soft lavender, with nice golden spires on a few of the taller ones.
  84. >It gives you a feeling of nostalgia to be back here, it always does.
  85. >Running around from shop to shop with your mom as a filly, going to Donut Joe’s shop with Cadence, watching your brother Shining Armor at drill practice. It was very homey to you.
  86. >The cool morning air nips at your neck
  87. >You take a deep breath and stretch, despite the staff’s more than satisfactory attempts to make you all feel as comfortable as possible, train rides were still cramped and sometimes tiring. Your eyes glance over the streets.
  88. >No pony is awake yet, it’s still so early in the morning.
  89. >You however have a job to do, you look over to your friends, both of them struggling to stay awake.
  90. “All right girls, let’s start making our way to the castle. We can all eat breakfast there after we meet with the princesses.”
  91. >”But Twiiiiiliiiight,”
  92. >Pinkie protests
  93. >”The castle is suuuuch a long walk! Can’t we get a coffee and breakfast at Donut Joe’s shop?”
  94. “Pinkie, it’s half past five in the morning, he isn’t even open yet.”
  95. >Fluttershy yawns and rubs her eyes.
  96. >”Well Twilight, there must be some shop open. I’m liking Pinkie’s idea of getting some coffee first before we head to the castle. It really does take some walking to get there from the station.”
  97. >You place your hoof to your chin. Trying to remember of a shop that as open at this hour.
  98. >You haven’t lived here in a few years, and the last time you did you really didn’t go to coffee shops, the royal kitchen was always open.
  99. >Well...the more you think about it, there is one shop your dad loved to go to. And he always had work start early for him, maybe that was open? Mocha Mare’s was the name you believed.
  100. “Actually, I think there is one coffee shop open, it may be a little bit of a detour from the castle though. You two sure?”
  101. >They both nod.
  102. “Alright, let’s go.”
  103. >The three of you start making your way down the street, as time passes more and more ponies start to appear, getting ready for a new day. Opening shops, and turning on lights.
  104. >All of them so groggy and tired. A few you are amazed are still standing on all four hooves.
  105. >You three eventually make it to the shop, which had conveniently just opened.
  106. >You all step inside with sighs of relief.
  107. >The aura of the shop was one of blissful comfort. Nice and toasty with the smell of freshly ground coffee beans in the air.
  108. >The three of you order your coffee and sit down at a nice table, Pinkie nibbling on a small lemon pastry to hold her over until breakfast at the palace.
  109. >The atmosphere was nothing but calm and serene.
  110. >If this alien Human really did come from a world of war and violence, he’d probably love the comfort this world has to offer.
  111. >He couldn’t have landed in a better place assuming he really is in shock in coming to a completely different world. One could only imagine the horrors he’d encounter if he’d landed in the Badlands, or maybe even the Everfree.
  112. >You considered all of you lucky he ended up here specifically then. It probably would’ve left a bad first impression with all those bandits or monsters after him.
  113. >Once all of you were done with your Coffee, you start to make your ways to the castle. The little detour giving you three the much needed energy boost to complete the still early morning route.
  114. >Perfect timing too, the sun was beginning to break the horizon, showing Celestia was at least awake.
  115. >Once arriving at the castle, you are greeted by a guard pony who was seemingly nearing the end of his shift with the heavy bags under his eyes.
  116. >He gives a salute
  117. >”Princess Twilight and friends, I assume you are here answering the Princesses’ orders?”
  118. “Yes sir, we are, would you mind taking us to see them?”
  119. >”Yes ma’am, the three of you please follow me.”
  120. >You all follow the guard inside the castle walls, making your way towards the royal dining area.
  121. >”The princesses are currently eating breakfast at the moment, you three all should have plates of your own waiting your highness.”
  122. >You smile and thank him.
  123. “Thank you! Do you know if the Human will also be joining us this morning?”
  124. >”The Human is not awake yet, from what I understand, however even if he was, he’d probably be eating his breakfast in his own quarters. The Princesses wanted to brief you three before you actually meet this creature.”
  125. “Ah, understandable, thank you.”
  126. >Once finally reaching the doors to the royal kitchen, the guard salutes and takes his leave.
  127. >The three of you enter and bow your heads greeting the Princess sisters.
  128. “Good morning your highnesses, we’ve finally arrived to answer your call to greet this mythical creature who has found himself here.”
  129. >Celestia looks over and smiles, her white coat was frizzled, probably from just waking up, her main continued to just flow in an invisible wind, just as it always had.
  130. >”Greeting’s my little ponies, I’m glad the three of you have finally arrived. You’re work will be much appreciated!”
  131. >”Much appreciated indeed.” Princess Luna said in a very exhausted tone.
  132. >”This Human needs all the help he can get!”
  133. >You cock your head at the night princess’ words. You notice that her usually starry and smooth flowing mane is disheveled and unkempt. The dark circles around her eyes we deep and sunken, her eyes were slightly bloodshot.
  134. “I’m a little confused, what kind of help does he need? Weren’t we just supposed to study him?”
  135. >You knew you probably would be helping this creature in someway, settling him in, showing him friendship, teaching and exchanging ways of life, but Luna’s words made it seem like there was something more going on.
  136. >You turn to Celestia for an answer, Luna burying her face into her hooves in frustration.
  137. >”I suppose I should brief you three on what exactly it is you will be helping us with when it comes to Anonymous. Please come and sit down though, enjoy the breakfast our chefs have made for you three!”
  138. >You all sit down, Pinkie eager to eat despite having a few extra sweets in her after your visit to the coffee shop. Fluttershy speaks up.
  139. >”What kind of help do we need to offer him?”
  140. >You can see the increasing worry on her face as she asks this question, and just after you managed to calm her down the night before.
  141. >The Princess clears her throat and begins to lay out everything you three need to know before meeting this Human.
  142. >”You three are about to meet a creature previously thought to be fiction, I’m sure that much you know already?”
  143. >You and Fluttershy nod, Pinkie looks up from her plate and smiles wide, showing all of the whipped cream smeared on her teeth from her pancakes.
  144. >”Well, from what we’ve gathered from Luna’s and my own conversations from him, he has some...erhm, other troubles he’s been dealing with. Outside of being far from home.”
  145. “What kind of troubles?” you ask.
  146. >”I believe I mentioned Anonymous, which is the Human’s name by the way, was found in the Royal Gardens by Luna about a week ago during a walk. Well, he wasn’t found in the uhm...best of state.”
  147. >You raise an eyebrow
  148. “What do you mean?”
  149. >Celestia paused, what she was about to say would probably be very unsettling to here based on the grimace on her face.
  150. >”He was wandering the castle grounds, in a very panicked and startled state, when Luna approached him, she mentioned that he was, uhm, ‘beaten up’ you could say?”
  151. >”He was drenched in blood and was wielding a knife. He was covered in wounds and bruises.” Luna interjected.
  152. >You and your friends gasped.
  153. >”Oh my goodness! What happened to him? Did he hurt somepony? Did he get into a fight?” Fluttershy was beginning to shiver, though you can’t say it was unwarranted, that sounded awful.
  154. >Celestia sighed again.
  155. >”No, at least not here from what we can gather. Where ever he was before ending up in the gardens, was apparently very dark, and very violent. Whenever we ask him what happened or how he got his wounds he’d stop talking or say something a long the lines of. ‘I don’t really know myself.’ Seeing him in such a state we had to throw him in the dungeon at first. We didn’t know why he was in such a state or the danger he posed. Given the fact he is out of his cell now you can tell we’ve come to the conclusion through our talks that he was most likely a victim of bizarre circumstance and not some criminal. We’ve managed to clean him up, and we’ve confiscated any thing that may pose a threat from him, but he is still very shaken and scared from where ever he came from. He’s even been having frequent nightmares. Some of which has caused screaming loud enough to wake myself up on occasion.”
  156. >This all sounded so horrible. What possibly could he have been through that was so bad? Was he a soldier in one of the wars Humans are known to fight? Or was he attacked one night by a group of thugs? Was it something darker?
  157. >Your train of thought was cut off by Luna putting in her piece of mind.
  158. >”That would explain our distressed state at the moment. I’ve spent days trying to get into his dreams and help him with these night mares, but he seems to be resistant to any spell we try. Whenever we try to counsel him he will refuse to speak on these terrors!”
  159. >By the maker! Was it really all that bad?
  160. >Fluttershy was on the verge of tears, poor mare was quivering in her seat. Pinkie’s expression was no better. Her eyes were almost popping out of her skull and her hooves were covering her mouth.
  161. >What ever this Human has been through, it was clearly horrible, he clearly needed some friends to help him through what ever happened.
  162. “What ever we need to do to help we’ll do it Princess. Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and I are on the case!”
  163. >Celestia smiles at this, pleased by your determination.
  164. >”Thank you all so much. I’m certain you three will be able to help him out with all of his troubles. If you three are finished with breakfast, I’ll show you to his room so you can finally meet him. Sister, you need some rest.”
  165. >After finishing your plates and wishing Princess Luna good rest, the four of you make your way to Anonymous’ room.
  166. >You were filled with determination and optimism to make this Human feel welcomed to Equestria, and help him fight what ever haunts him. It was your duty as Princess of Friendship, and a duty you were more than happy to fulfill.
  167. >As you three made it to the door of his room, Celestia stopped and turned her head towards your group again, preparing to give you and your friends some final words before you entered.
  168. >”Before you enter, please know I choose you three, and only you three for a reason. Twilight, you are the Princess of Friendship and my faithful student. I’m trusting you can get something out of him, anything is helpful at this point. I also trust you will show him the friendship he needs. Fluttershy, as the element of kindness, I know you will be able to make him feel comfortable and safe, as well as help the medical staff treat some of his wounds. Pinkie Pie, as element of laughter, you should be able to cheer him up and enjoy his time here, how ever long that maybe. We’re hoping this will also help tame his night terrors.”
  169. >Pinkie squeed, Celestia’s word getting her out of her funk.
  170. >”You can count on us Princess! I’ll help make those mean ol’ spooky-wooky nightmares go away!”
  171. >Celestia chuckles at Pinkie’s words.
  172. >”I’m sure you all will, please do your best, and good luck.”
  173. >She opens the door and let’s you three walk into the room.
  174. >You turn back before entering
  175. “Don’t worry Princess, we’ve handled bigger problems before. We won’t let you down.”
  176. >She thanks you one last time before letting the door shut, allowing yourselves some privacy.
  177. >You three take a quick look around the room...empty.
  178. “Hello? Anonymous is it? We’ve been sent by the Princesses to visit you!”
  179. >You call out
  180. >You don’t get an answer. Where is he?
  181. >The opening of the balcony makes you jump a bit.
  182. “Eep!”
  183. >”Gah!”
  184. >Your head snaps to the balcony door, in it’s frame was the tall bipedal creature, the Human. He looked just like the drawings in your manuscripts.
  185. >Wow, he was tall. Not huge, but the top of his head would come up to at least Luna’s horn if not higher.
  186. >You take note of his clothes. White hoodie, blue pants made of what looked like denim, and uh...what were those on his feet? Where they a kind of boot? They looked a bit different, they seemed to cut off at his ankles. His clothes appeared clean, like Celestia said, but you could see the off colored brownish pink that still stained his hoodie. There was a lot of it. Luna wasn’t joking.
  187. >”Uhm...Hello? Are you three the ponies Celestia said I would meet?”
  188. >His question snapped you back to reality.
  189. “Oh! Yes, my name is Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship and Element of Magic, and these are my two friends, Pinkie Pie, Element of Laughter, and Fluttershy, Element of Kindness. We’ve been sent to study you, and hopefully help you with what ever is troubling you.”
  190. >He frowns
  191. >”Oh, she told you about all of that stuff huh? None of you should really concern yourselves with my problems. I wouldn’t want to burden you all with everything I have to go through.”
  192. >You wave your hoof
  193. “Nonsense, as the Princess of Friendship, and an Element of Harmony, I’d be more than happy to help, and that goes for my friends too! We don’t have to talk about all of the bad stuff now. We should all start on a lighter note!”
  194. >You grab a quill and note pad from a near by desk with your magic and sit down, Pinkie and Fluttershy sit behind you.
  195. “Please have a seat and we can get started!”
  196. >Anonymous shuffles his feet, looking a little anxious.
  197. “Is there anything wrong?”
  198. >The Human in front of you closes the door behind him and starts to speak.
  199. >”Oh, nothing! Nothing is wrong, it’s just, I’m still getting used to this place. Talking ponies, magic, hell pegasi and unicorns and the like are all myths where I’m from, and I’m sure I’ve never heard of one talking.”
  200. >You scribble all of this down. So not only were YOU talking to a mythical creature, from Anonymous’ perspective so was he!
  201. >Fascinating
  202. “Really? That’s all very interesting. But, you don’t have to be afraid, to be honest you’re a myth to us as well! For millennia it’s been believed your race was a myth, but here you are!”
  203. >He gives a weak chuckle
  204. >”So I’ve been told...okay. I’ll sit down now I guess.”
  205. >You smile as he takes a seat right across from you and your friends.
  206. >”So what do you want to ask me?”
  207. >You open your mouth to say something but Pinkie interjects before you can get it out.
  208. >”Howdy! I’m Pinkie Pie, but Twilly already said that, and you’re Anonymous right? That’s a weird name, do all Humans have weird names? Or is it just you? You shouldn’t feel sad if you have a weird name, I love weird ponies! Weird ponies can be very funny sometimes you kn-”
  209. >You stick a hoof in your friends mouth.
  210. “Pinkie! Calm down, please! You’ll get your chance to help, but right now we’re just asking questions!”
  211. >Pinkie just smiles. “Aw come one Twilight that’s boring, and we aren’t going to help him if we’re boooooring are we?” Pinkie put a lot of emphasis on the word ‘boring’.
  212. >Your brow furrows.
  213. “We can help him with that later, and like he said, he doesn’t want to talk about that right now. This is the best way we can break the ice.”
  214. >Well, you say that, but the ice breaking has already gone off with a rocky start.
  215. >You give an awkward smile to Anonymous, who was just staring in confusion at the two of you. You laugh nervously and pick up your quill in your magic again.
  216. “Ha ha, sorry about that, but Pinkie does bring up a good point. Your name is Anonymous correct?”
  217. >”Oookay? Yes, my name is Anonymous, but please you can call me Anon for short. To answer your quirky friend there, it isn’t a very common name. But Human names aren’t really anything like, Fluttershy, or Pinkie Pie, or Twilight Sparkle, or something. Save a few exceptions I suppose.”
  218. >You write all of this down. Fascinating.
  219. “All right, I suppose we should get the obvious stuff out of the way. Do you have any idea how you got here?”
  220. >Anon rubs the back of his neck with his hand.
  221. >Hands. A lot more dexterous than the claws Spike has, those must be so useful to have. His face is still very somber though.
  222. >”See...I don’t think I know, or if I do I don’t think I fully understand. Or if I do understand, then it just raises so many more questions whose answers seem impossible to me. Or just very hard to accept.”
  223. >...what?
  224. >What the hay does that even mean?
  225. >You grimace slightly
  226. “I...uhm...heh, I’m not entirely sure what you mean. Are you saying you do know or you don’t know?”
  227. >He blows air out of his nose, his face begins to look frustrated for a bit. Then defeated.
  228. >”Look, I need to be real honest and upfront here. Assuming you three have been told everything the Princesses know, I don’t know exactly how I ended up here, and I have my ideas, but it ties back into getting out of...where ever the hell I was before coming here.”
  229. >He lowered his head.
  230. >”I know you’re here to help and I appreciate that, but until I’m fine with disclosing what happened, I don’t want to bother any of you with that. I want answers too but let’s just...I don’t know, put a pin in that for now.”
  231. >You had to blink. Apparently he’s been asked this several times before. Probably by the princesses. Maybe he’s been going over what happened in his mind over and over and he just doesn’t understand it. Maybe both.
  232. >This wasn’t turning out as smoothly as you expected. Then again you didn’t expect to be interviewing a mythical creature that clearly came just came out of a dark place.
  233. “Can you excuse me for one second!”
  234. >”Oh no, I’m sorry, I didn’t...yea okay. Do what you need.”
  235. >He looked hurt. Ouch.
  236. “I’m sorry Anon, I just need to discuss something with my friends reaaaaaaal quick.”
  237. >You apologize as you push your friends into the bathroom.
  238. >You sigh.
  239. >”Oh my, he seems very troubled.” Fluttershy starts,
  240. >”I don’t think I’ve ever seen any pony so lost and confused...other than me really.”
  241. “Celestia's flank!” you swear.
  242. “I wasn’t expecting any of this. Even with Celestia’s talk I didn’t expect him to be this anxious! Worst part is, if it weren’t for the bruises and blood stained clothing I’d peg him as being some edgy teen. If he even is a teen!.”
  243. >Pinkie interrupts your little rant.
  244. >”It’s okay Twi, we didn’t do anything, heck he even said he appreciates us being here! You know what I think? I think he needs a day of specialized one on one fun time!”
  245. >Dang pink mare can only think about having fun and partying instead of...wait.
  246. “Wait, Pinkie, what did you just say?”
  247. >”What? Oh you mean my One on Fun Super Special Get to know Togethers? (Trademarked) it’s a special party I like to plan when ever I meet a pony who’s a sappy sad sapperton or a weepy introvert! Why?”
  248. >Of course! A day alone with all of you! Having to be around so many mythical creatures must be just some unwanted stress. You wouldn’t know it by looking at her but that pink mare can be a,
  249. “Sweet Celestia, you’re a genius!”
  250. >”Heehee, no I’m not silly! I’m Pinkie!”
  251. >Yes, this is a perfect idea. All you three have to do is take shifts and get to know him personally one on one.
  252. “Girls, I know what we’re going to do! Come on.”
  253. >The mares follow you out of the bathroom. Anon is still sitting on the floor looking into his lap. You clear your throat to get his attention.
  254. >He looks up at you, waiting for you to speak.
  255. “Anonymous, I have a better approach. All three of us talking to you and interacting with you is probably giving you a lot of stress, what with having to be surrounded by creatures you didn’t consider real until a week ago.”
  256. >Anon was giving you a puzzled look.
  257. >”Yea, I suppose that’s true? But what are you trying to get at?”
  258. “Anon, for the next week, we will be taking shifts spending the day with you and getting to know you better. One on one.”
  259. >”Ermm...Okay? If that’s how you three want to do this? I don’t suppose I have a choice.”
  260. >You raised an eyebrow.
  261. “No, no. I mean, only if you want to.”
  262. >Anon waves his hand.
  263. >”No it’s fine. It’ll probably help me ease into this whole...being in a different world here anyways.”
  264. >You smile.
  265. “Great! So it’s settled. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy you two may retire to our bedroom, we can discuss who will spend the day with Anon tomorrow before bed!”
  266. >The two mares leave, making it just you and Anon there in the room.
  267. >You walk over and take a seat right across from him, taking your note and pen in your magic again.
  268. “Okay, now that that’s out of the way we can begin again. Also, sorry for taking a break so abruptly, I just wanted to find a way to make you more comfortable. Please forgive me if I end up asking any questions that make you feel uncomfortable.”
  269. >Anon puts his hands up
  270. >”No, no it’s all fine. I understand. It’s not like you know anything about me anyways.”
  271. “Well, let’s fix that! Now, next question...”
  272. >And so you began to interrogate Anon. Making sure to only ask general questions. Nothing too personal outside of, “How old are you?” Which, apparently he was 20. Even more interestingly, Humans could live up to be 80 or 90 years old where he lived, some have even made it to their hundreds!
  273. >The whole day was just asking and explaining to each other about your worlds. Comparing differences, noting similarities. Apparently Humans couldn’t control the weather or raise the sun or moon. The weather worked by itself and the sun and moon rising were illusions caused by a spinning globe. What shocked you was their lack of magic! That doesn’t even seem possible.
  274. >However, through their own science, they were able to make remarkable, and some rather terrifying things. Life improving drugs, more efficient ways of travel, including flight. But also bombs, war machines, and these things called guns. Instruments that can fire a lead projectile at the speed of sound and tear through a human, sometimes at impressive range.
  275. >On and on, love or war, pony or not, you got a lot of information that would probably help you. Maybe even some ideas to share with the inventors and scientists of Equestria.
  276. >The more and more you talked, the more comfortable Anon became with you. He never lost his somber mood, but he was able to crack a lighthearted joke or two, even if most of them were cynical.
  277. >What ever! It’s progress baby, and you could appreciate that much.
  278. >Alas, time flies when you are lost in note taking and researching. You noticed how much darker the room was. You got up and brushed your self off.
  279. “Wow Anon! I got so much information from talking to you! I really appreciate you sharing all that information with me.”
  280. >Anon shrugs.
  281. >”Don’t mention it. It really isn’t anything special. Like I’ve been saying, your world is probably far better. With all of the real magic and peace. Even if you get the occasional bad guy.”
  282. “No, thank you really. This is all really good information. I can see you’re tired though. So I’ll leave you to sleep.”
  283. >You stop yourself before leaving, remembering the problem he has.
  284. “Anon? Please get some good rest tonight?”
  285. >Anon looks at you. You can see the sadness in his face, but also a touch of appreciation.
  286. >”Thanks Twilight. I appreciate that. I’ll try. You have a good night’s rest too!”
  287. >You give him a smile and wave good bye, shutting his door.
  288. >A sigh of relief escapes your lips.
  289. >Today was a good day. A rocky start, but you were able to fix that.
  290. >You finally make your way back to your room that you were sharing with the girls.
  291. >Pinkie is the first to notice you.
  292. >”Hiya Twilight! How’d it go with Anon?”
  293. “It was wonderful Pinkie! I got so much information on his world from him. He actually opened up a lot! He really came around after a few hours. Time just flew by. I’m more surprised we just sat in that room and talked, his world is so interesting.”
  294. >Fluttershy was the next to speak.
  295. >”That sounds wonderful, were you really able to cheer him up?”
  296. “Well...not exactly, no. But, I was able to make up for the beginning of our conversation and really lighten the mood a little”
  297. >You yawn and stretch your forelegs.
  298. “Sweet Celestia, it felt like only a few minutes. I’ve done nothing but talk all day and yet I’m so exhausted.”
  299. >You climb into your bed and get snuggled up getting ready for sleep.
  300. >”Wait!”
  301. >Pinkie interrupts your blanket snuggles.
  302. >”Twilight, who will be hanging out with Anon tomorrow?”
  303. >Oh yea that.
  304. “Oh! Right. Uhmmm, Fluttershy, you hardly got to make yourself known today, and you are very gentle and kind. You should be the next one of us to spend time with Anon tomorrow. Help with the treatment of his wounds as well.”
  305. >”I’ll try and do my best Twilight. He seemed so scared and frustrated.”
  306. “Probably, just remember to not ask or bring up anything to personal. All right good night you two.”
  307. >They both responded with their own good nights and you drifted off to dream land.
  308. ~~~~
  309. “Okay Okay Okay, you got this!”
  310. >You tell yourself.
  311. >You’re Fluttershy, and Twilight just tasked you with spending time with the new creature that just arrived in Equestria. A Human. Practically a monkey.
  312. >You’ve taken care of monkeys before. Maybe he likes bananas? Oh, but that also sounds like a personal question, and Twilight said to not ask personal questions. Now that you think of it, all your questions may be personal questions.
  313. >What food does he like? What is his favorite music? Favorite color? LEAST FAVORITE COLOR? HIS OPINION ON THE POLITICS OF DOOR HANDLES?
  314. >Fluttershy just be cool.
  315. >You GOT THIS! You’re going to go in there, and be his best friend, just like Twilight asked of you.
  316. >Hay you don’t have a reason to be scared anymore, from what you know now, he is just another scared and lonely creature who needs to be taken care of.
  317. >Who the hay cares if he’s an Omnivore? Mr. Bear is an omnivore, he eats meat, and you love Mr. Bear. He’s your best friend.
  318. >And from what Twilight found out after her day with Anon, Humans don’t even eat ponies, so you have no reason to be scared.
  319. >You bring up a hoof and lightly tap on his door and back up.
  320. >…
  321. >Nothing.
  322. >You do it a second time.
  323. >Still nothing.
  324. >Maybe you aren’t tapping hard enough. Oh but you don’t want to scare him. He does suffer from night mares after all. Although it’s already 10 in the morning, and from what Princess Luna said at breakfast, this has been his calmest night yet. Still muttering in his sleep maybe, but he wasn’t screaming his poor head off.
  325. >You tap the door a little harder this time.
  326. >This seemed to work, as you could hear Anon shuffling around in his room and approach the door.
  327. >It opens, and you get to see Anon up close.
  328. >”Oh...Good morning, uh, Fluttershy was it?”
  329. “Mhm, that’s me! It’s my turn to spend the day with you! That is uh, if you don’t mind?”
  330. >Anon rubs the sleep from his eyes and scratches the back of his head.
  331. >”No, no problem at all. Please come in, I just need to take a shower and get dressed. Just uh, don’t try to follow me in the bathroom, like what one of the guards tried to do.”
  332. “I wouldn’t think of it!” You smiled.
  333. >You walked into Anon’s room and sat down on one of the sofas, as Anon him self took of his hoodie and threw it on the bed.
  334. >He grabbed a towel and stumbled into the bathroom. Leaving you alone in the room just to think.
  335. >Think about what you’d actually do with Anon. Maybe a walk around the Garden? See all the pretty animals? Maybe walk around the palace? Maybe you could just sit in the room and talk about what you two enjoy over tea? Dangerous gambit there, you may end up asking a question too personal.
  336. >After some time passed you decide to to pace around the room a bit, maybe you’ll see something that’ll give you an idea.
  337. >Hmm...a dresser, he wears clothes. Maybe a trip to a boutique? No, he’s a Human, and you didn’t think they’d have Human clothes there. Plus you’re pretty sure he’s not allowed to leave the castle.
  338. >A painting of butterflies. The walk in the garden was still an option.
  339. >Some old books. You’re no Twilight, but maybe there is some literature you can discuss?
  340. >A notebook.
  341. >...with his name on it?
  342. >You walk up to get a better look.
  343. >His name was written in a small white box, it was kind of faded. In ink that appeared to be a lot bolder, and freshly written were in large capital letters reading, “DO NOT READ.”
  344. >Hm...something is telling you not to read such a thing. It’s probably his diary. You aren’t scum enough to go through his diary.
  345. >You’re train of though came to sudden halt when you saw a hand grab the note book in front of you and throw it in a drawer with a loud slam.
  346. “EEP!”
  347. >You jump and cower behind the closest thing that’s larger than you.
  348. >The bed.
  349. >Shivering you peek your head our from behind the mattress.
  350. >Anon is standing there clothed and with his hand in front of the drawer, giving you a stern look.
  351. >You try to choke out an apology.
  352. “I-i’m sorry Anon, I promise you I wasn’t trying to read it, honest!”
  353. >Anon just continues to stare at you.
  354. >You feel smaller than a mouse now, his eyes piercing you.
  355. >You begin to tear up.
  356. >Now it’s Anon’s turn to feel guilty.
  357. >”No, no don’t cry please. I’m sorry, I’m really sorry! I didn’t know you were just looking at it! It’s my fault I left it on the desk anyways.”
  358. >You wipe your tears from your eyes.
  359. >”Really, it’s not your fault, I shouldn’t have reacted that way. It’s just...I can’t have any of you reading what’s in it. I don’t want what’s in there in anyone else’s head. I’m sorry I reacted like that.”
  360. >You come out from hiding and walk up to Anon.
  361. “It’s fine, you just caught me off guard. I should’ve stayed away from it knowing how secretive you are. Honestly. Why don’t we just start our day hm?”
  362. >Anon seems to relax a bit.
  363. >”Yea fine. That’s fine. What do you have in mind?”
  364. “Well, if it isn’t too much of bother, I know that your dressings need to be changed and cleaned, and another healing spell applied. We should go down to the palace infirmary and talk about what to do there.”
  365. >”Sounds good to me.”
  366. >Once in the infirmary, you begin to help the medical staff by getting everything prepared, once Anons shirt and bandages are off, the nurses wash and apply their healing spells over his man wounds and bruises to help in easing the pain and speeding up the healing process.
  367. >Once they were done with that, you asked them to leave so that you two could be alone. Wouldn’t want Anon feel like he was surrounded again. Besides, all that was left was reapplying the dressing, and you could do that yourself.
  368. >Though he did have a lot of wounds, some of them were still rather deep.
  369. “Don’t worry, this will only take a minute.” You explain.
  370. >Anon sat patiently as you wrapped some gauze around his shoulder, some more over his left pectoral muscle.
  371. >You reach his left arm and pause. These aren’t like the other wounds on his body.
  372. >They were knife wounds, localized. Yea he had other cuts on his body, but they weren’t this localized, and all of different sizes. You could tell this was with the same blade.
  373. >D-does he?
  374. “Uhm Anon?”
  375. >You look up to him. He is clearly getting nervous. He avoids your stare.
  376. “Anon? W-where did these cuts come from?”
  377. >”T-that’s too personal Fluttershy...”
  378. >You knew that, but dang it if they were from where you thought it was from.
  379. >You tear up again.
  380. “Anon, where did these cuts come from?”
  381. >Anon just sighed, “I don’t want to talk about that. Please just apply the bandage and we can leave. None of them are new anyways. Not since arriving.”
  382. >So they are where you thought they were from. You were afraid of that. You’ve heard of ponies committing self harm, some times over the dumbest of things, but you’ve never met someone who’s actually done it to themselves, nor have you had to treat someone with those wounds.
  383. >Anon couldn’t look you in the eyes, he looked so embarrassed.
  384. >You had to do something.
  385. >You just hugged him, letting the tears fall.
  386. >This poor creature. Stuck in an alien world, so far from home, probably feeling lost and confused, just got out of a gruesome situation.
  387. >And now you just learned he hurt himself as well.
  388. >By the maker, you just had to find a way to make this day better, you just had to.
  389. >First the book, now this.
  390. >Anon was hugging you back now, rubbing your back.
  391. >”I-I’m okay Fluttershy, really. I haven’t done that to myself in a while, honest.”
  392. >You break the hug.
  393. “Honest?”
  394. >”Honest.”
  395. >You wipe the tears from your face and finish wrapping his wounds.
  396. >You suggest taking a walk in the Gardens, and he agrees.
  397. >You will make it up to him. What ever it takes. You owe him that much.
  398. >It’s about half past noon once you two finally make it to the gardens.
  399. >The animals have finally warmed up to you after your many visits to the castle.
  400. >A few of them would come and give you a flower or some berries.
  401. >A few birds would tweet a song.
  402. >A few of the cozy critters just wanted hugs.
  403. >Maybe Anon would enjoy some of the animals here?
  404. >...if he didn’t want to eat them.
  405. >No! He wouldn’t. Anon ate breakfast! You were sure? The palace staff probably had some meat in reserve for the Griffon ambassadors. Surely they’d be able to quell his meat cravings.
  406. >Despite your fears, you decide to risk it and try to find a cute critter for him to snuggle.
  407. >Most of them would avoid Anon though, they seemed afraid of him.
  408. >Dang it. You couldn’t judge them though. Anon was scary to you when you first heard of and met him. He could still give you a fright if he was in a sour mood apparently too.
  409. >You couldn’t let the animals being scared deter you though. You already made two situations very uncomfortable, you had to make it up to him!
  410. >You two continue to walk through the garden in silence, you’re racking your brain to think of a way to make the critters here like Anon, or maybe even an alternative solution.
  411. >”You know, this is very nice! A lot more peaceful and relaxing than when I woke up here.”
  412. >Anon interrupted your scheming and brought you back to the real world.
  413. >”Being here when there’s light makes it more bearable.”
  414. >Oh HORSEAPPLES! This is where Anon woke up! No doubt in your mind THIS would bring back painful memories!
  415. “OH MY GOODNESS! AnonI’msososorryIpromiseIdidn’tknowIwasn’ttryingto...”
  416. >”Woah, woah, Fluttershy, it’s all okay, I promise. You didn’t do anything wrong. Hell I agreed to come out here.”
  417. >Anon was putting his hands up trying to diffuse the situation.
  418. “A-are...are you sure it’s alright?”
  419. >”Yes! Of course. In fact I was appreciating how calm and peaceful the gardens are. Especially during the day.”
  420. >Crisis averted, your heart rate slows back down to a steady rhythm.
  421. >Too many close calls Flutters. You need to find this Human a cute bunny or something to cuddle ASAP!
  422. “O-oh. Well...that’s wonderful, I’m happy you feel that way! I’m sorry for over reacting. I just promised to do my best and show you all the kindness I can!”
  423. >”I understand, thank you. How ‘bout we just continue our walk hm? I think I recall seeing a water fountain out here from my balcony.”
  424. “Of course! Here, I’ll show you where it is if you don’t remember.”
  425. >Aaaand about half an hour later you ended up getting a little lost. The Garden’s are huge. You’d guest-imate probably half the size of Ponyville!
  426. >Anon seems patient though, just enjoying the fresh air and calm. He deserves it, especially after coming out of what ever part of Tartarus that gave him all those wounds.
  427. >The quest for the cuddly animal friend has not ceased however! And as you two walk around the Gardens, searching for this allusive fountain, you’d look around and think of any animals Anon would like to hug.
  428. >You first think of small animals or babies. Oh a birdy would look so cute perched on his shoulder!
  429. >*gasp* Or maybe, an adorable little opossum sitting in the hood of his hoodie nibbling on a strawberry!
  430. >Yes, good ideas, you’ll save those for later. But what else?
  431. >Anon is big, maybe he’d want a big animal to give a bear hug to...a bear? No a little too scary, plus you don’t think they have bears here.
  432. >Biggest animal you’ve seen here are swans! Though you’d have to make it to the fountain to see one of those.
  433. >Hm…
  434. >Yep, a swan would do. They are always so friendly!
  435. >...at least to you. Dang it that’s right, you need to find a way to make them like him.
  436. >The animals still seem to be afraid of Anon. Running away at the mere sight of him.
  437. >This doesn’t seem to phase Anon though, he was still just enjoying the atmosphere.
  438. >”Hey I think I see the path to the fountain!”
  439. >Anon points with his finger in a direction the right of you two.
  440. >By Celestia's butt, a huge sign with a big ol’ picture of a fountain pointing to a dirt path was just a few yards away.
  441. >Welp. That solves the fountain problem. And sense you couldn’t find a smaller or more suitable creature, looks like a swan will have to be it. Even if he may not get to hug one, he could feed it some seed!
  442. >You two approach the gate of the gardens and Anon pushes it open. Allowing you to enter first.
  443. >What a gentlecolt. Erhm, gentleman? That sounded more fitting.
  444. >You two walk up to the base of the fountain. The ornate statue in the middle was rather plain, but it’s size most definitely made up for it. Easily twice as large as Princess Celestia!
  445. >The statue itself was of a mare on an orb, standing on one of her back hind legs, with her forelegs in the air. The sculpted pony seemed to be spitting out a steady stream of water, which kept the pool around it full.
  446. >Just as you remembered, there were a few Swans swimming in the large pool of the pond.
  447. >You waved Anon over, and took some seeds from a feed box by the side of the base.
  448. “Here Anon, do you want to feed one of the swans?”
  449. >Anon made an unsure face.
  450. >”Oh, ehh...I don’t know about that Fluttershy, all the animals seem to be afraid of me. You know, scary alien?”
  451. “Oh nonsense, I’m wonderful with animals, I take care of all the little critters that show up to my cottage back home. Here, I’ll show you.”
  452. >Anonymous reluctantly moved his way further to the pond, and took some of the feed from your hoof.
  453. >You lean over the edge and get the attention of one of the daddy swans, the mommy continues to swim with her babies in another direction.
  454. >You begin to coo and convince the water fowl to come closer.
  455. “Hello there Mr. Swan, you look really nice today! I can see that your feathers are already nice and preened! You’ll have to show me how to get them just right. I don’t do as good of a job on my wings. Are you hungry?”
  456. >The swan gradually makes it’s way closer to you. You hold out your feed.
  457. >The swan gently nibbles at the seeds in your hoof and you could see a smile spread on his beak.
  458. “Would you like to meet my fried Anonymous?”
  459. >The swan stared at you, with a blank expression.
  460. >You pulled Anon over
  461. “Go ahead put out your hand.”
  462. >You wrapped your hoof around Anon’s arm and pulled him in closer.
  463. >Anon reached out his hand, and the swan cowered a bit.
  464. “It’s okay Mr. Swan, Anon won’t hurt you. See? He’s nice and kind.”
  465. >The swan looked up at your Human friend, Anon was giving a small timid smile back.
  466. >The swan inched closer and inspected the feed, and reluctantly began to eat.
  467. “See Mr. Swan? Anon isn’t mean.”
  468. >Anon chuckled at your statement.
  469. >You smiled.
  470. >YES! Everything was going great, you were finally doing something right!
  471. >You slowly let go of Anon’s arm and allowed the swan to get used to and continue to eat from Anon’s feed.
  472. “Wait right here Anon! I’m going to go a fetch Mr. Swan’s family!”
  473. >”That sounds fine Fluttershy, you go and do that.”
  474. >Your smile grows wider.
  475. >You canter up to the group of swans Mr. Swan was swimming with previously. Three cute little babies and a beautiful wife.
  476. >You hoof out your feed and coo.
  477. “Hello all of you! Would you like to join your daddy and husband in a snack?”
  478. >The baby swans beep and get closer to your feed, their little beaks pecking away at the meal presented in front of them. You let out a giggle.
  479. “That’s right, let’s go and join you-”
  480. >*HISSS*
  481. >You don’t even get the rest of your sentence out of you mouth when you hear the hissing of a swan...from Anon’s direction.
  482. >”Woah! Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay, I don-AHH! FUCK!”
  483. >You look up and see Mr. Swan biting Anon’s hand.
  484. >Oh, no. DANG IT! It was going so well. You gasp and drop the rest of the feed into the water and rush over.
  485. >Anon was desperately trying to pull his hand away from the swan’s beak.
  486. >You rush up and grab Mr. Swan, pulling opposite of Anon.
  487. >”AH! God damn it, let go of me you shit!”
  488. >Well that wasn’t very nice.
  489. >You continue to pull until Mr. Swan is promptly removed from Anon’s hand, and you let him go.
  490. >The Swan quaked at your friend a few times before swimming off.
  491. “HEY! Mr. Swan! That wasn’t very nice of you! Haven’t you ever heard of biting the hoof that feeds you! Or, erm, Hand?”
  492. >You turn back around ready to give a full apology speech to Anon, when you see it.
  493. “Oh Anon, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know Mr. Swan was going to bite you! Oh if I knew I would’ve never...”
  494. >Blood. Not a lot of it, but just enough to leave are large red stain on Anon’s hoodie, and enough to leave small smears on his hand in a deep crimson.
  495. >”Ah Fuck! Damn bird! Shit.”
  496. >As Anon was continuing to scream obscenities, you could only watch as your world came crashing down. Your motherly instincts to tend to him couldn’t even over power the failure you could feel, deep in your heart.
  497. >The entire day was a failure after another.
  498. >First you anger Anon by looking at his diary.
  499. >Then you embarrass him by confronting him about his arm, which was way too much of a personal question and issue to bring up with a creature you just met.
  500. >Then you bring him out to the place he woke up in, the first moments being here with what ever he went through still in his mind. He said it was fine, but you don’t know if he was just saying that. Hay he probably was! Just trying to be nice.
  501. >Then this happens. You end up putting Anon in a dangerous situation, and made him bleed.
  502. >Failure.
  503. >Failure, Failure, Failure. You wanted to give up.
  504. >Sure if it was one of your best friends, you wouldn’t be having so much trouble. >Hay even if you did, none of them were going through what Anon was going through now.
  505. >And you just met him! This is your first impression on him as Element of Kindness and you were supposed to make him feel comfortable and safe but only managed to screw this all up!
  506. >Your bottom lip began to quiver.
  507. >Your vision was starting to blur from the fresh tears in your eyes.
  508. >A failure.
  509. >”GOD! MMMMM-DAMN IT! Hey Fluttershy do you…?”
  510. >You didn’t want to look at him. You couldn’t. How could you?
  511. >You failed Anon, you failed Princess Celestia, you failed Twilight, you failed our element...you failed your self.
  512. >You broke down.
  513. >”Woah, hey, Fluttershy. Fluttershy it’s okay! I’m not seriously injured or anything, just a few bad scrapes, everything is fine! We just need to...”
  514. “NO! It’s NOT!”
  515. >You scream. Bad manners, very mean of you. But you don’t care.
  516. >You’ve already screwed everything else up, what’s the point in trying to redeem yourself now.
  517. “I messed up! Okay! Sniff I tried my best today to help you feel safe and comfy and all I did was hurt you and make you feel uncomfortable!”
  518. >This probably wasn’t the best look in front of an alien species, but you didn’t really care at this point. You began to question why you were there.
  519. “I’m a screw up! Okay! Nothing but a screw up!”
  520. >”*sigh* Fluttershy...”
  521. “NO!”
  522. >”FLUTTERSHY!”
  523. >That made you stop.
  524. >You looked up. Anon’s familiar somber expression looking down on you.
  525. >He looked pained, probably from the wound you cause, probably from the discomfort.
  526. >He knelled down toward you.
  527. >You flinched ready for what ever verbal assault he was going to give. Heck, even a physical one, you know you deserved it.
  528. >Anon placed his hand on your head.
  529. >”Look at me Fluttershy.”
  530. >You peer over your leg and look him in the eyes.
  531. >”Look I know, you and your friends were sent here to help me. Help make me feel welcomed and readjust me after my...situation. But I’m not completely helpless. Trust me on this.”
  532. >You picked your head up. Tears were still falling, but your lip stopped quivering.
  533. “B-but I’m-”
  534. >”I know how you feel right now Fluttershy. You feel as though no matter how hard you try or what you do you can’t do anything right. Nothing works! Nothing seems to go how it’s supposed to and you feel helpless.”
  535. >You go to lower your head again but Anon stops you with a finger under your chin and lefts your head up to his eyes once more.
  536. >”But I know that everything you did was out of kindness. I know you didn’t mean to find my journal, I know you were just trying to help when it came to my arm, and I know you just wanted to show me your love for animals.”
  537. >His lips form a small sad smile.
  538. >”Look, my life was never too great, even before, well, I was in the bad place. I’ve learned to, if not fully accept, then to expect bad things to happen to me from time to time. I know what it’s like to feel like a failure. I still do to be brutally honest with you. But know you didn’t fail at anything.”
  539. >You were more confused now than anything. What didn’t you fail at? All your plans failed.
  540. “B-but, everything I tried just didn’t work!”
  541. >”Well, maybe your specific plans didn’t go like you wanted. But your goal was to make me feel comfortable and safe. And even if they were small and unintentional, you still were able to do that. You gave me my privacy to shower, which with the guards keeping a close eye on me is hard to get sometimes. You helped change my dressings which made me feel cleaner, and took the pain away. And you brought me out here, walking through the gardens with you was the calmest I’ve felt in a long time Fluttershy.”
  542. >You were speechless.
  543. >Here come the water works.
  544. >But you weren’t sad.
  545. >You were happy. You couldn’t even think on how those words affected you, but you knew they did. And you knew now that you really didn’t screw up. You were able to make Anon feel welcome and calm. Relieve his pain, and allow him some decency.
  546. >You jumped into his arms and began to sob again.
  547. >Anon just placed a hand on your back and began to rub.
  548. >”It’s okay Flutters, it’s all okay.”
  549. >Those words made you sob harder.
  550. >After a while your sobbing ceased and you broke the hug.
  551. >Oh hay, his fingers are still bleeding right.
  552. “Oh my goodness! Anon your hand!”
  553. >”Uh...yea, we should probably make our way back to the infirmary.”
  554. “Of course come on, I know the way now. Promise we won’t get lost again.”
  555. >”Of course!”
  556. >You and Anon begin to make your way back to the infirmary.
  557. >A new dedication filled your heart. You couldn’t think of a way this would end in failure. But if it seemed to, Anon gave you the confidence to be able to make him feel comfortable no matter what happens.
  558. >It was night when you finally made it to the room.
  559. >You were able to get Anon all patched up.
  560. >After that was all taken care of he and you had decided to discuss a little more about each other.
  561. >Nothing too personal, just similar interests. Something Twilight would be very appreciative of.
  562. >You lay yourself across your mattress.
  563. >”Why don’t you tell me about your day with Anon Fluttershy? I want to hear all about it! Did ya learn anything new?”
  564. >Twilight levitated out her pen and notepad, ready to record anything of note.
  565. >You position your self into a more comfortable position and pat the empty spot next to you.
  566. “Sure, Twilight! Have a seat, I found out a few new things about him.”
  567. >She hoped onto the bed with a pomf.
  568. >”All right! Tell me everything you’ve learned!”
  569. “Well, number one, don’t touch his journal, I wouldn’t even ask him about it. Number two, don’t bring up anything about his wounds.”
  570. >Twilight was visibly confused by this.
  571. >”What do you mean? I would’ve guessed the wounds part, he got them all from that ‘bad place’ he keeps saying he came from. He’s not exactly willing to say anything about that yet. But what journal? I don’t remember him ever having one.”
  572. >You shift a little nervously. You probably shouldn’t tell her about Anon cutting himself. He says he hasn’t done it since arriving and you only brought up the wound thing just in case so he wouldn’t have to explain it himself if they ever saw.
  573. “Well, when I first went up to his room, he had a notebook with his name on it. When he caught me looking at it he threw it in a drawer and stood in front of it. He seemed real mad.”
  574. >Twilight stuck her tongue out in concentration as she scribbled all of this down.
  575. >”You weren’t going to read it were you?”
  576. “Oh heavens no! I just didn’t see it when we first met him, so it caught my eye when I just went in.”
  577. >”Well, what else did you learn? Anything about him specifically?”
  578. >You nodded
  579. >”Great! Go on.”
  580. “Well, he didn’t tell me everything I know, only some of it. I could just see the rest.”
  581. >”Still tell me, information is information.”
  582. “All right. Anon is a very anxious creature. I can tell he had a very troubled life back home. Not just from what we know either. Probably his whole life. He mentioned that he felt like a failure, even here. He mentioned being very alone growing up. He wouldn’t tell me everything, but what I can gather, he never really had a friend. Maybe an acquaintance, but never someone he could depend on. I know now he likes music! He says he can play the piano and guitar. Although, when I asked him to demonstrate he declined, saying that he didn’t feel as though anything he knew was special. Oh Twilight, I feel so sorry for him, and thinking about how little info he’ll give out at a time is pretty infuriating.”
  583. >Twilight takes several seconds to scribble down all the major points you explained.
  584. >”Gosh Fluttershy, I knew he was probably still scared from his incident, but that all just sounds sad. Still though, this will help. We can use it to help us connect with Anon more. Is that everything?”
  585. >You nod and take a glance around.
  586. “Where’s Pinkie? It’s getting rather late!”
  587. >Twilight giggles
  588. >”Oh don’t worry about her, she’s still prepping a little something for Anon, knowing Pinkie it’s probably a small party.”
  589. >A party?
  590. >That made you uneasy. Anon already gave off the impression that he was very secretive and shut off person. And Pinkie wanted to throw him a party.
  591. >You remember her talking about having a special kind of party for introverts like Anon. It’s what gave Twilight the idea to split the job of helping him settle in into daily shifts in the first place.
  592. >You hope she knew what she was doing.
  593. >You let your face make contact with your pillow and cover yourself with your blanket.
  594. >It was strange. You expected Anon to be some hostile monster or some rude bully at least knowing the stories they had here.
  595. >But he seems so sad and melancholic. His eyes were sunken in and tired, and he had a smaller frame than expected. He didn’t have the most confident voice either.
  596. >He was a little bit like you in that regard.
  597. >You giggle to yourself in your head.
  598. >Now that’s funny. You never thought you’d be relating to a creature from a mythical species that’s known to be violent conquerors.
  599. >With that thought in your head, you drift into a peaceful sleep.
  600. ~~~~
  601. >Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.
  602. >Today is finally the day you get to throw Nonny his very special party!
  603. >Nonny is the cute nickname you gave him.
  604. >Giving him a nickname will show him you are comfortable with him and such.
  605. >Oh you’re Pinkie Pie by the way! But you can just call yourself Pinkie. All you’re friends do!
  606. >You are hoping down the hall way to Anon’s room. Silly monkey should be up by now.
  607. >Your friends have evidently been doing amazing things for Anon! Luna even mentioned Anon being able to sleep better! Hasn’t screamed himself awake since you and your friends showed up!
  608. >So many things to celebrate today! Anon’s arrival, Anon sleeping better, Anon finally meeting friends! Today is gonna be so much fun!
  609. >Fluttershy even mentioned he can play music!
  610. >You wonder what kind of music Anon likes? Probably blues music because he’s always so blue.
  611. >You finally arrive at his door and give it some nice loud knocks.
  612. >If he wasn’t awake before he is now!
  613. >You sit in front of the door and wait for a second. You can hear Anon in his room moving around.
  614. >He open’s the door in a flash.
  615. >”Holy shit! What’s going on! Do you need me? Is something wrong?”
  616. >You giggle at this.
  617. >Oh Nonny, such a joker.
  618. “Hee hee! No silly, it’s just time for your extra special One on Fun Super Special Get to know Togethers! (Trademarked) Aaaaand you finally get to spend the whole day with me!”
  619. >Anon just looks at you. Why does he look so confused?
  620. >OH WAIT! You recognize that kind of face!
  621. >It’s the same silly ‘are you being serious face’ Rainbow would give you whenever she was being a stick in the mud and you wanted to have fun.
  622. >”Pinkie Pie, you were banging on my door like there was some emergency! Please, don’t do that!”
  623. >Ohhhh yeaaaaaa! Anon is still jumpy from that spooky dark place he was just in.
  624. “Oof. I’m sorry Nonny! Let me make it up to ya’! It’s time for your party! Oh! Don’t worry, only you and me will be the attendants!”
  625. >”That...okay fine. Where is it?”
  626. “In the ball room silly. Where else? Come on! I’ll show you where it is.”
  627. >You grab Anon by the arm and start leading him to the ball room.
  628. >Once there, you throw the door open and lead him in.
  629. “TAA DAA! Well, what d’ya think?”
  630. >You stand by Anon, waiting for his response.
  631. >He looks around the room taking in your handy work. No doubt shocked by how awesome it all is.
  632. >Streamers, balloons, a BUNCH of snacks, and a big cake!
  633. >You smile and inch closer to his face.
  634. >”It’s uhm...You really out did your self huh?”
  635. >You giggled.
  636. “Nah silly, this is only a small party! Now come on, let’s eat!”
  637. >You put your party music on and dive head first into the cupcakes you’ve made.
  638. >Oh Celestia they were good.
  639. >You hoof one to Anon.
  640. “Come on try it!”
  641. >Anon took the pastry and inspected it. Turning it around in his hands, as if trying to figure out what to do with it.
  642. >Did he not know what a cupcake is?
  643. “It’s a cupcake! You eat it silly. Like this.”
  644. >You take two cupcakes and shove them in your mouth. After some chewing and one big gulp you grin.
  645. “See? Like that!”
  646. >...
  647. >He wasn’t eating it.
  648. >”I know what a cupcake is Pinkie. Sorry, I never liked sweet things to be honest with you.”
  649. >Blasphemy! No wonder Anon was always so gloomy. He never got to understand and appreciate the beauty of cupcakes!
  650. >You put your hoof to your chin.
  651. >Hmmm. Sweets aren’t working, neither is the music.
  652. >AHA! Music! Anon plays music. Maybe it isn’t the music he likes?
  653. “Weeeeeell. If you aren’t hungry, why not play some music? I’m something of a musician my self dontcha know?”
  654. >Anon starts to decline but you weren’t about to let that stop you.
  655. >You kick the speaker out of the way and grab Anon by his hood, dragging him to the stage.
  656. >You sit him down, pat him on his head and grab one of the instruments Fluttershy said he could play.
  657. >A guitar!
  658. >You hoof him it and sit down in a chair right across from him.
  659. “Alright Nonny, play me some tunes!”
  660. >You grinned expectantly at him, then frown.
  661. >He still appeared to be in shock, probably from how fast you moved him from across the room and into a chair.
  662. >Okay. Something is up.
  663. “What’s wrong Anon? Don’t you enjoy playing music? Fluttershy told me...”
  664. >”No, Pinkie, it’s not that.”
  665. >Anon set the guitar down.
  666. >”It’s just, all of this is so unnecessary for me. It’s way too much at once.”
  667. >Did this man just say he doesn’t like parties?
  668. >”Please don’t be upset by this. I never really went to any parties back home, never had one since I was a little kid. I’m willing to give you a chance, but all of this is so...over the top.”
  669. >He motions to the whole room.
  670. >He probably had a point.
  671. >It’s clear to you now, you had it all wrong. He was different than most introverts you’ve dealt with.
  672. >And just giving him a guitar and telling him to play wasn’t going to cut it either.
  673. >Something wayyyy smaller. Smaller than even this party, if that was possible!
  674. >Twilight and Fluttershy said no personal questions, but you had to find out WHAT it was that made Anon smile.
  675. “In that case Anon, what makes YOU smile? What’s the ONE, or maybe even TWO things that gives you the biggest shiniest grin, and makes you feel warm and fuzzy on the inside?”
  676. >Your goal here was to get Anon out of his funk, make him laugh, find something he can find joy in.
  677. >Anon sighed and looked up somewhere non specific, thinking about the answer to that question.
  678. >He frowned
  679. >”Honestly? I couldn’t tell you Pinkie. There wasn’t much to be happy about back home. Even the music playing Fluttershy told you about was more of a...distraction than anything. The best I could feel when I was home was some peace at mind. Small distractions from the otherwise shitty situations I found my self in. They would put me at ease, but they didn’t make m problems go away.”
  680. >Dang, heavy stuff Sad stuff.
  681. >You couldn’t cry though, you had a job to do, and damn it if you wouldn’t give it your all.
  682. “Well, then give me some of those distractions. I’ll find some way to turn it from a distraction to something you can find smiles in!”
  683. >Anon pondered a minute.
  684. >”Well...”
  685. >…
  686. >It was now three hours later.
  687. >You haven’t given up, you wanted to sometimes, you were even getting a little angry.
  688. >Nothing seemed to be working. All of these “distractions” Anon talked about didn’t seem to be working.
  689. >At least the way you meant for them to be.
  690. >You didn’t know what TV was, and video games sounded fun but you didn’t have anything that would match what Anon described.
  691. >All the music you had, Anon didn’t groove to.
  692. >All the jokes you had would at best get a light chuckle, and at worse a blank expression.
  693. >You tried drawing, nothing, played him some music yourself, and while he was impressed by all the instruments you could play at once, didn’t really make him smile.
  694. >There must have been something you haven’t tried yet. Some thing you didn’t think of or do.
  695. >…
  696. >Alcohol? Humans loved alcohol from what you knew. But this was risky, you didn’t know the kind of drunk Anon was, he may be the violent kind, touchy feely kind, or, Celestia forbid, the depressed kind. Most likely the last one.
  697. >Welp, you miss one hundred percent of the shots you don’t take.
  698. >You turn to Anon, who, appeared as bored as yourself.
  699. “Anon, I have an idea!”
  700. >Anon raises an eyebrow.
  701. >”Yea? What is it? More pin the tail on the pony?”
  702. “Ha ha, no dummy, just wait here and I’ll be right back.”
  703. >You start to make your way to the door when Anon grabs your tail.
  704. >”Pinkie wait,”
  705. >You turn your head one hundred and eighty degrees. A talent that would make certain ponies cringe but it seemed Anon just stopped questioning things.
  706. >”I am thankful for every thing you’ve tried to do Pinkie, honestly I am. But trust me, you won’t find success in trying to make me any happier than I was before I got here. You’d be walking down the path a lot of doctors and professionals have and end up coming to the same conclusion, that what I go through can’t really be helped.”
  707. >What?
  708. >Doctors? What’s this about doctors? You aren’t a doctor, you’re a party pony.
  709. “Doctors? What do you mean Anon? Are you sick? GASP IS THAT WHY YOU’RE NOT HAPPY? Do you have some weird strain of pony pox?”
  710. >”I-What? No...*sigh* Pinkie.”
  711. >He lets go of your tail and gets down on one knee.
  712. >The mood in the room has gotten a lot more serious.
  713. >If he is so sick why hasn’t he told anypony?
  714. >You mean, yea he has wounds and bruises but you were told that was from the bad place. He was making it out that this was going on for a while?
  715. “What’s wrong Anon? Tell me and I’ll help. We all will!”
  716. >Anon slid his hand down his cheek. Scratching at his 5 o’ clock shadow.
  717. >He took in a deep breath and held it for a few seconds before letting it go.
  718. >The air has been still for quite a minute now.
  719. >The seconds seemed to be getting longer with each one that passes.
  720. >The faces he’s making looks like he’s still trying to come up with a way to tell you what exactly he means or how exactly he’s sick.
  721. >”Pinkie, since I’ve gotten here, there was a lot about me I didn’t want to be let known. Even now there is a lot I want to be kept a secret.”
  722. >You just nod, usually you’d interject to say something but you felt as though this was all too important for that.
  723. >”I’ve been keeping all these secrets from you all because, well, it’s so hard for me to open up to people, especially those I’ve just met. I get these feelings that people will just not understand, or if they do understand, I’ll just end up making things worse. My life, my entire life, has not been a good one, but I’m sure you all could’ve guessed that by now.”
  724. >You didn’t want to listen to any of this. You wanted to make Anon laugh and smile. >You wanted to show him a good time. A nice welcome to Equestria.
  725. >This was all too sad and depressing.
  726. >”I don’t know why you all keep doing this. I’m a strange alien in your world, from what I understand, my species has a slight negative image attached to it, not that it’s undeserved, and none of you have any obligation to try and help me. Despite that, all of you have tried to help me, and when ever I see you all get so tied up in how I’m doing, I feel as though I have to explain to you three or the princesses why what’s being done is hopeless or why they actually AREN’T failing in the attempts they make to better me.”
  727. >No obligation? You’re an element of harmony, it wasn’t just your job or duty, but purpose to make ponies laugh.
  728. “But we-”
  729. >He puts a finger to your lips and you stop talking.
  730. >”Pinkie, I won’t ask you or your friends to stop trying to help me. I tried that when we first met, I don’t want to bother you all with my problems, since I don’t think they can go away. However I do want to at least give you all the information I should’ve given you but didn’t because I thought it would be...too much.”
  731. >What does that mean? Too much what?
  732. >You could feel your hair deflate.
  733. >Did Anon seriously not want all of your help?
  734. >But he keeps saying he appreciates the help!
  735. >Maybe it’s him?
  736. >He couldn’t possibly see himself THIS low!
  737. >”Pinkie...I’m not a happy person. The doctors I visited were psychiatrists and counselors. I took medicine for depression and suffered from anxiety for as long as I’ve been living on my own. Everything the doctors did and tried never helped me.
  738. In fact one of their methods might have...well, I shouldn’t tell you that. But please understand. It’s not that I’m not grateful for what you’ve been trying. So far, you, Flutters, and Twilight have been the only three willing to be my friend for a long time. Having been alone for so long I really appreciate that. Just, please don’t beat yourselves up for not being able to fix me, it’s none of your faults. I’m just...broken.”
  739. >Broken?
  740. >He...broken?
  741. >Psychiatrists? Medicine for depression? Only three friends?
  742. >Even the loneliest of ponies you knew weren’t entirely alone.
  743. >Even cranky had his marefriend he was looking for.
  744. >You’ve never heard of doctors giving ponies medicine for feeling depressed or anxious.
  745. >Depression was a feeling not a germ. Did they also give medicine for feeling sad or angry? Maybe too happy?
  746. >And what was that one method he mentioned? Why wouldn’t he finish that part?
  747. >Have so many really tried and failed no matter what they did?
  748. >You couldn’t believe that, you didn’t, you wouldn’t.
  749. >You understand what Fluttershy was telling you about Anon now. For being a failure. And now it was filling you with the same determination.
  750. “Anon, you aren’t broken. And I’ll prove it to you! I don’t know when or how, but I will. Obviously this isn’t something that can be done in a single day. A lifetime of gloom and bad feelings will do that. But me and my friends...OUR friends, will help you!”
  751. >Anon just gave you a sad smile.
  752. >”I expected such a sentiment. I’m sorry Pinkie.”
  753. >You were getting mad now.
  754. “No Anon, YOU ARE NOT! There is nothing for you TO be sorry about. I should be sorry I didn’t know or pick up on any of this. We WILL help you, we’ll pick up all your broken pieces and glue it back together with friendship! And nothing will stop us!”
  755. >You give Anon a determined smile.
  756. >He returned the same sad smile as before and stood up.
  757. >”I really can’t convince you any other way huh?”
  758. “NOPE!”
  759. >”Fine...you know what Pinkie? I think I want a cupcake.”
  760. >You squee, and rush over to the table full of treats.
  761. >The rest of the night was just doing whatever you enjoyed doing, and Anon participating.
  762. >This seemed to make him happy enough. He never laughed nor did he have a smile as big as even your smallest, but you could see that he was content enough to just witness you having fun.
  763. >He never played his guitar.
  764. >By the time the sun finally went down, Anon decided that then was as good a time as any to rest. Who knew watching you break dancing would be so tiring!
  765. >When Anon left, you cleaned up the ballroom, which was easier to do than set it up, and retired to your own suite.
  766. >Both Twilight and Fluttershy were in there chatting to themselves in front of...is that a blackboard?
  767. >Twilight noticed you walked in and greeted you.
  768. >”Ah! Pinkie pie! We were just in the middle of planning how to help Anon! How was your day with him?”
  769. “It was rough in the beginning, but I was able to find a way for him to enjoy the party I had planned!”
  770. >”That’s great! You and Fluttershy have been making leaps and bounds with him progress wise, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna especially have been thankful, seeing as we’ve been able to cut down on the severity of his nightmares!”
  771. >Fluttershy smiled and added her own words.
  772. >”I’m really happy we’ve been able to help so far. I just wish he’d open up to us more!”
  773. >Twilight nodded in agreement with her statement.
  774. >”Oh! Speaking of which, Pinkie! Have you learned anything new about Anonymous today?”
  775. >You shuffled a bit.
  776. >You knew you had to tell them, heck you were expecting this to be the first thing you and your friends spoke about.
  777. >But everything Anon said to you?
  778. >It made a lot of sense, but it was a lot heavier than what you three thought you were previously dealing with.
  779. >The fact that there was a lot more going on in Anon’s life than just coming out of that horrible place.
  780. >You clear your throat and begin explaining everything you know.
  781. “Well guys, I think we’re dealing with something a lot worse than we thought. And I mean, super duper MEGA worse! When Anon told me, it made a whole lotta sense, but thinking about it just makes me wanna throw him a pity party.”
  782. >Twilight and Flutters look at each other and then back to you, worry visible in their eyes.
  783. >”That sounds horrible Pinkie, what does that all mean?”
  784. >You scratch the ground before answering.
  785. ”Twilight? Can you really go to the doctor and take medicine for feeling sad and gloomy all the time?”
  786. >Your purple friend cringed at this question.
  787. >”Pinkie, is that what Anon told you? Buck me, no wonder he’s been so closed off. Other than taking medicine for depression, what else has he told you?”
  788. >Well, that confirmed your answer, but that left having to explain the rest of what Anon told you.
  789. “Nonny told me that, while he appreciated all of us doing this for him, he said that we’d might as well not bother, since those doctors and medicine couldn’t help him. He said he was...broken.”
  790. >Twilight’s cringe seemed to worsen at the last word there.
  791. >Fluttershy seemed to find the floor very interesting, her hair covering her eyes.
  792. >”All of that actually makes a lot of sense.” Your butter colored friend spoke up.
  793. >You and Twi turn your attention to her.
  794. >”You two remember when I asked you not to ask Anon about his wounds? Well, turns out when I was changing his gauze, I found out he used to hurt himself...a lot.”
  795. >...
  796. >WHAT!!!
  797. >ANON HURT HIMSELF? ON PURPOSE!?
  798. >Your hair finally deflated, an audible noise akin to a balloon losing air accompanying it.
  799. >Twilight seemed just as taken a back.
  800. >”By the maker. First we learn Anon arrived here from a very awful place, now it turns out his whole life was a mess! No wonder he’s been having so many nightmares, and why he hasn’t been opening up to us! We HAVE to find out what happened! Buck the schedule, all of us are meeting with Anon tomorrow and getting to the bottom of this. We can’t let him stay like this.”
  801. “But Twilight!”
  802. >You interject
  803. “Anon told us twice now that we shouldn’t bother! He even told me the only reason he told us ANYTHING in the first place was because he felt like he had to, otherwise we’d keep getting angry over problems all his doctors failed to solve anyways!”
  804. >”I agree, Anon is very delicate with these things, we should continue to go slow!”
  805. >Fluttershy says this while putting a hoof over Twi’s shoulder.
  806. >Twilight sighs.
  807. >”We can’t just let him stay like this though. We need to do something!”
  808. >The night dragged on with discussing how to help Anon, now you all knew how bad of a situation he was really in.
  809. >A perfect plan couldn’t be brought up. You all decided to meet with him together tomorrow.
  810. >You had trouble getting to sleep that night.
  811. >You couldn’t help but feel anxious, like something bad was about to happen...you just didn’t know what.
  812. ~~~~
  813. >You walked down the hallway with your other two friends behind you.
  814. >The mood was somber and not reassuring.
  815. >You are Twilight Sparkle. Princess of Friendship, Element of Magic, and faithful student to Princess Celestia, princess of the sun, and ruler of the country you call home.
  816. >And you weren’t feeling to good.
  817. >You weren’t sick, just a little...not depressed, not sad, perhaps tired? Mentally tired anyways.
  818. >You’ve been making a lot of progress with this Human being ever since he got here, mostly with gathering information. But helping him was another story.
  819. >Anon was strange. He came from a world, a species, that are known for being conquerors, explorers, and on occasion, brutal savages.
  820. >However, you and your friends got to meet a depressing and closed off individual.
  821. >For the past 3 days you and your friends have been trying the best you all could to help him settle, and while he seemed to be increasingly open to being friends, he still wouldn’t open up to the other troubles that plagued him.
  822. >And that’s about to end.
  823. >You think you know a way to help Anon with this, and it’s clear just the three of you Elements of Harmony weren’t going to help him.
  824. >You make it to Anon’s door and take a deep breath.
  825.  
  826. >…
  827.  
  828. >”You want to do what?”
  829. “We want to take you back to Ponyville Anon. Just Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and I aren’t going to be enough. We need the rest of the Elements to help you really settle in and help.”
  830. >Anon seemed unsure about your proposition.
  831. >”Are you sure about that Twilight? I’m lucky enough and gracious that you and your Princesses have been kind to me, but I’m still an Alien, and one with a bad connotation. I’m not even allowed to leave the castle.”
  832. “We’ve already discussed this with the Princesses, and they agree and are willing to let you go, so long you are under my careful supervision.”
  833. >It took some convincing, but you knew you couldn’t get all the information you needed and help Anon out of his predicament without the rest of your friends.
  834. >Three minds may be better than one, but six is greater than three.
  835. >Besides, Anon must have been getting palace fever. He needed a calmer and less claustrophobic environment, free from the invading gaze of the castle guards.
  836. >Anon shifted on the couch he sat on and scratched his chin.
  837. >”Well...I probably wouldn’t be able to change your mind. Plus, I can trust you three and the Princesses with what’s best. When do we leave for...Ponyville?”
  838. >You smiled.
  839. >He trusted you, he’s said that before, but the more he says it the more you can feel it.
  840. “We leave tomorrow morning at five. Me and my friends have to pack, but that shouldn’t take long. So before we do that, we wanted to all sit down and try talking as a group again!”
  841. >Anon sat back in the couch and rested on leg over the other.
  842. >”All right, that seems fine. What would you like to talk about?”
  843. >You levitated out your quill and note pad, a content grin on your face.
  844. “Well, I thought that we could review everything you’ve learned and the progress you’ve made so far! Get your side of all of this, since all we have are out individual personal takes.”
  845. >Anon nodded and waited for you to continue.
  846. >You cleared your throat.
  847. >You, Anon, Fluttershy, and Pinkie all had a long and great conversation. More opening up, mostly from your end, some laughing, even from Anon, and some more information that’s more personal from him. Not a lot, but important from what you could gather.
  848. >He wouldn’t say anything about the dark place, you decided not to ask, but apparently the journal he has was a part of making him feel better. The Humans have what’s called a strange kind of therapy. The journal was for writing down his thoughts and reviewing them.
  849. >The Princesses had apparently wanted to confiscate this from him when they took anything from him that may harm ponies, but he begged and convinced them not to, so they let him keep it.
  850. >Anon seemed very protective of the book, and after a bit of awkward silence was quick to change the subject.
  851. >Alright so that book was important to Anon, you scribbled that down.
  852. >A dark place, depression, self harm, medication, and this odd form of therapy Humans have of dealing with psychological harm, that appeared to be working, but if it was, why was Anon still like this? Maybe he wasn’t doing it long enough, or was just auxiliary help towards frequent meet ups with his doctors and the medicine he’d take.
  853. >You noted all of this and kept it for later. This would all be important, you could feel it.
  854. >”So Twilight,”
  855. “Hm? Wha-?”
  856. >You were pulled from you note taking by Anon.
  857. >”You never mentioned where I’d be staying once I got to Ponyville. Pinkie and Flutters are very adamant about me staying at both of their places, but the Celestia and Luna mentioned you needing to watch over me right?”
  858. >Pinkie got close to your face and started begging.
  859. >”Pleeeeeeease Twilight! Seeing as Anon is such a saddy sad pants, he HAS to stay with me in Sugar Cube Corner!”
  860. “Well actually Pinkie, he-”
  861. >”Oh, but Pinkie, who will take care of his wounds?”
  862. >Fluttershy walked up to Anon and rubbed his arm.
  863. “Fluttershy, he-”
  864. >”Pshhh! I can take care of his wounds! What’s so hard with wrapping some bandages around a monkey!”
  865. “GIRLS! He’s staying with me! That was the deal.”
  866. >Anon gave a nervous laugh.
  867. >”Heh heh, I’m being fought over by a bunch of small talking horses.”
  868. >You pouted.
  869. “We aren’t fighting! Princess Celestia made it clear we’d only be allowed to bring Anon back under my supervision, so, it’d make the most sense if he stayed with me. End of discussion.”
  870. >”Awwww, Anon would’ve loved the cake twins!”
  871. >You choose to ignore Pinkie.
  872. >Anon would get a chance to meet everypony soon.
  873. >But he was staying with you and that’s final.
  874. >You sighed and put a hoof to your head.
  875. >”H-hey why don’t we get lunch? It’s three hours past noon anyways.”
  876. >Your stomach growled at the mention of food.
  877. >It’s still amazing how you have been able to lose all sense of time conversing with this being.
  878. >It feels like you cant get three words out without it skipping three hours into the future.
  879. >How couldn’t you though. He’s an alien from another world.
  880. “That...actually sounds lovely Anon! The chefs are probably still down in the kitchen. We can eat and then all pack. We’ll have to wake up early to make it to the station on time.”
  881. >The three of your friends nod and get up, making your ways to the kitchen.
  882. >After lunch, packing, and purchasing your tickets, first class again, of course with the princess discount, you decided to meet with Celestia and Luna to have another discussion about Anon before leaving in the morning.
  883. >You walk into the throne room and bow.
  884. “Good evening Princess, I’d like to have a final discussion about Anonymous before we take leave to Ponyville in the morning.”
  885. >Celestia smiles at you and chuckles.
  886. >”Of course Twilight Sparkle! And please, you are a Princess as well! The situation isn’t so formal at the moment for you to bow. Now please, explain all the work you’ve been doing with Anonymous. I hear his nightmares are getting better!”
  887. >You get up and blush, giving an awkward laugh before continuing.
  888. “Heh heh, of course! How silly of me. Ahem, Anonymous the Human has been making a lot of great progress during out time here,”
  889. >With a flash of magic, you held your book of notes in front of you within your Aura.
  890. “From what we’ve gathered, Anonymous has, unfortunately, had a rather difficult life, even before he was in this, ‘bad place’ he still refuses to elaborate on. From what he’s said, he has been visiting psychiatrists before arriving, who have given him anti-depressant medications as well as a new technique of therapy not practiced by us.”
  891. >This seemed to peak the Princess’ interest.
  892. >”I’m...so sorry to hear that. Makes me feel a little guilty for throwing him in the dungeon and treating like a prisoner when he first arrived. And what kind of therapy?”
  893. “The Humans call it ‘cognitive therapy.’ Essentially, a patient will keep a journal for documenting their thoughts, and are meant to reflect on them. I assume it’s meant to keep track of their thoughts, and rationalize any emotions they may have.”
  894. >Celestia taped her chin with her hoof, looking up somewhere nonspecific.
  895. >”Yes, I do remember Anon arriving with a journal. Out of all the things we’ve confiscated, he was very...vocal...about parting with such a thing. Seeing as it was just a book, we let him keep it. By the maker, you’d think we were about to banish his whole family in front of him. Though if it was a means of therapy, it’d make sense for him to act like he did.”
  896. >You continued.
  897. >”Yes, apparently he’s been receiving help for his mental state back in his world for sometime now. However, as for our progress, we know when my friends and I arrived, Anonymous was previously very shutoff. Unwilling to communicate, and when he was very little, as well as suffering from night terrors. Well, four days into our meetings and activities, Anon has since opened up a lot more, and seems to be in a better state than previously, at least in a state where he is comfortable to divulge basic information and pacify his night mares!”
  898. >Your note pad is gone with a poof and beam up at your teacher.
  899. >She smiles and nods her head, taking in this information.
  900. >”Thank you Twilight, this has all been very informative. As for the nightmares, Luna has expressed immense gratitude in quelling them. Ever since our Human arrived here, she had to tend to him nightly, and before you and your friends arrived, it was an all night ordeal just to calm him down. She’ll still be looking for a way to solve this ongoing issue, though you and your friends have given her a much needed break.”
  901. >Your can feel your head getting bigger, the pride in your chest threatening to make you explode.
  902. “All in a day’s work your highness! As Princess of Friendship, and an Element of Harmony, I am happy to help with such matters!”
  903. >”And my sister and I are more than satisfied with the results. Now please Twilight, though it’s only early in the night, you must get rest for your early travels tomorrow. I wish you and your friends in Ponyville luck. Have a good night.”
  904. >After exchanging a good night of your own, you turn around and head back to your room so you could finish packing.
  905. >Once that was done and you settled into bed, you began to drift into your slumber lost in thought.
  906. >What would Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow dash think of Anon? You’d probably have to keep your rainbow maned friend from tackeling him on sight. And make sure Rarity doesn’t insult Anon’s appearance to much, he wasn’t really the most...ehhh...maintained looking.
  907. >Okay, he looks like he just crawled out of Tartarus, not that he wasn’t, attractive...not that you saw him in such a way of course. But to be fair, from what it sounds like, he did, or might as well have. He’s so trashy looking, but no judging from you.
  908. >You needed to be a good friend.
  909. >And with that, blissful sleep over took you, dreaming of what Anon’s first reaction to Ponyville may be.
  910.  
  911. ~~~~
  912.  
  913. >Another Nightmare overcome.
  914. >Poor Sweetie Belle was quivering and screaming over being hunted by a timber wolf.
  915. >Nothing you couldn’t handle. ‘Twas a tame dream.
  916. >Being Princess of the Night, no filly nightmare could give you any trouble.
  917. >You are Princess Luna, Goddess of the night, and co-ruler of Equestria with your sister.
  918. >Though, practically, you only hold ruler in title alone.
  919. >Yes, you had your say in laws, you had made your own decrees, your own guards, your own crown.
  920. >But you weren’t really the figure head. That title went to your older sister.
  921. >Such is life you suppose, you did try to threaten your ponies with eternal night, and your sister had to stop you.
  922. >You loved her though. And to be honest, you appreciated your line of work. Finally doing good for your subjects, instead of threatening them.
  923. >Plus, you didn’t have to listen to the constant arguing at court. No nagging, no being paraded around everywhere, no ponies pining for your attention.
  924. >So long the power YOU had wasn’t threatened, everything would be fine.
  925. >You took a deep breath in through your nose, the sweet air of the waking realm filling your lungs.
  926. >The dream realm can be a bit stuffy sometimes.
  927. >Though such a thing couldn’t last. You had other business to attend to.
  928. >After using the little filly’s room, you made your way down from your personal chambers, towards the room of Anonymous.
  929. >The poor Human found himself here about a week and a half ago, and was plagued with nightmares since arriving.
  930. >You were the one who found him wondering the palace gardens, wielding a blade stained in blood, and a strange rectangular object that was emitting a light from it.
  931. >He called it a “cellphone.”
  932. >You’ve heard of phones. An up and coming new piece of technology, though not widely used, and requires a rats nest of wires to connect to different ones.
  933. >His little box didn’t have any at all, and didn’t look like what the phones here had. Plus, what does the “cell-” part mean anyways?
  934. >Didn’t matter. It’s in your possession now, along with his blade, lighter, and a pack of cigarettes.
  935. >You had to take it from him. He was very shaken and poised for attack, ready to draw blood from any that went near him. And clearly where ever he came from, he succeeded in doing, with all of the crimson liquid drenching the clothing he wore.
  936. >Though now you know he was probably defending himself, and in a situation far beyond his control.
  937. >So his stay in the dungeon wasn’t long.
  938. >He never did say what that was all about.
  939. >No matter, the bigger issue was quelling his night terrors.
  940. >Poor monkey would scream himself, and Tia, awake in the middle of the night.
  941. >It took you all you could to try and quell them, but the amount of magic needed was exhausting.
  942. >You never even saw a bubble into his dreams, it was just him, laying down in the dimension in front of you and screaming in agony. You’ve read all your books and couldn’t figure out why that was, or how you could get into his dreams.
  943. >You had to wake him up, and he’d be there for a short while with you but leave as soon as he saw you, waking up in his own bed.
  944. >Thank the maker Twilight Sparkle and her friend managed to calm them down.
  945. >They never fixed it, but it was made manageable to combat, and it stopped him from waking up the castle.
  946. >You reached his room, and...was that strumming? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv6KCewsLQU&list=LLckkqRkXWrASv8oa1rfnkVw&index=14&t=0s
  947. >You silently peak your head in and look around. He was on the balcony.
  948. >He was sitting there, smoking a cigarette, and playing away at a guitar, probably one from the ball room.
  949. >You enter the room and start to approach Anon.
  950. >What ever the tune he was playing, it was rather pleasing to listen to. Not very uplifting, but listening to it reminds you of his personality.
  951. >You sat there silently, waiting for him to finish. Watching his fingers pluck and dance around on the instrument.
  952. >Once he was finished, he took a final drag from his cigarette, and smothered it out on an ash tray he had on the ground.
  953. >Anon was really talented, it put a smile on your lips that instead of tossing and turning in his bed in a cold sweat, he was relaxing and enjoying himself.
  954. >Though that enjoyment was short lived, as when he turned over to put out his cigarette, he noticed you looking at him and jumped out of the chair he was sitting in, grabbing the guitars neck and bringing it up like club.
  955. >”AH! Holy, shit! What, the...Princess Luna? Oh, fuck, you scared the shit out of me.”
  956. “Oh! Our apologies Anonymous! We didn’t mean to sneak up on you like that! We just came to do our nightly checks on you.”
  957. >Anon slowly brought the guitar down back to waist level, and finally set it on the ground, laying it against the railing.
  958. >”Ah! Of course, yea that’s...fine...”
  959. “Yep! Of course! We can see that you are all fine as well.”
  960. >”Yep.”
  961. >An awkward pause filled the air with tension.
  962. >You an Anonymous were never on the best of terms since your first interactions.
  963. >You two came to an understanding that neither of you were looking to harm the other. And you even offered to help with his nigh terrors, though, mostly so he would stop screaming.
  964. >But after the first night, a slight uneasiness would fill the space between the two of you.
  965. >Anon scratched the back of his head and looked down.
  966. >”So...how long were you uh...standing there?”
  967. >You rubbed one fore leg with another and looked up no where specific.
  968. ”Oh, we...several minutes ago. We heard you playing the guitar and didn’t want to bother you.”
  969.  
  970. >”Ah, I see. Thanks for that, I guess. I’m not too great on it though.”
  971. “Nonsense, you played very well.”
  972. >”I appreciate that, but I really don’t know a lot of songs. I really was only playing because I couldn’t sleep.”
  973. “Oh? Is it the nightmares? Have they woken you up?”
  974. >”No, it’s...*sigh*”
  975. >Anonymous turns around rests his arms onto the railing of the balcony.
  976. >You walk over and stand next to him, waiting for him to speak.
  977. >”Luna, I want to apologize to you. For when I first showed up.”
  978. “No need Anonymous! It was a misunderstanding between the both of us. You, a creature of folklore from a war like race, and we, another creature of folk lore you’ve never seen, and could have been another threat for all you knew.”
  979. >Anon pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and first finger.
  980. >”Even still. I want to formally apologize. For that, and never properly thanking you or helping you with my nightmares. I really appreciate that, and you especially, after I found out about your story.”
  981. >You lifted your head up and straightened your self.
  982. >So he’s been told.
  983. “You mean about Night Mare Moon, and my banishment?”
  984. >”Yes, Twilight told me about it the first day she arrived when we were discussing the differences of our worlds.”
  985. “And prey tell, Anonymous, how learning of my story makes you appreciate me more?”
  986. >You leaned in closer a bit to understand him better.
  987. >”Well, I was never banished to the moon.” He chuckled.
  988. >You furrowed your brow.
  989. >Anon’s smile faded and he sunk back down to the railing.
  990. >”I was never banished anywhere, but I know how it feels. To be lonely, and to have a sort of shadow self consume you. Make you do things you wouldn’t normally do. Make you see things about yourself you’d never accept. Make you think things you’d never think. They give you nightmares.”
  991. >This all caught you off guard.
  992. >What does he mean?
  993. >Is he trying to say he feels sorry for you?
  994. >What exactly is he trying to get at here?
  995. “I...appreciate your understanding Anonymous. But we don’t understand why you are being so open about all this. We assure you we don’t need to be felt sorry for. We have accepted our past, and wish only for a better future.”
  996. >”Well. I do feel sorry for you, but that isn’t why I’m opening up.”
  997. “And why are you then? We are most likely the one pony you’ve spoken to the least with. Yet you seem to be choosing me to open up to.”
  998. >”It’s because, out of all the ponies I’ve met, you are the only one with a backstory similar enough to mine that they may understand what I’m going through. And I didn’t know that until Twilight told me, and if I knew I would have opened up more. I’m sorry I didn’t.”
  999. >Anon stood up and dragged the chair he was playing the guitar on over next to him and sat down.
  1000. >”It’s not even that I’m not thankful or don’t trust the others either. But all of my problems. The one’s I’m not willing to share, are complicated. And last time I told a friendly face about them, I was stabbed in the back, and didn’t want that to happen again. So I never told them, out of fear more than reason, but knowing your past? I feel safer telling you, and can’t give an explanation as to why that is.”
  1001. >This was a lot heavier that what you were expecting to happen tonight.
  1002. >With a poof of magic, you summoned your self a pillow and laid it on the ground.
  1003. >Getting comfortable, you sat down right across from Anonymous.
  1004. >You were very unsure what to do with all this information.
  1005. >Say ‘Thank You’?
  1006. >Is this what he was thinking about the whole time? Is this why he couldn’t sleep?
  1007. >Because he sees a little bit of himself in you?
  1008. “So, this is why you couldn’t sleep tonight?”
  1009. >”No. That was all something that needed to be said in the first place. Something I needed to say. Just that I understand what you went through and have been through a lot of the same shit, and I’m sorry I never helped you or got to understand you because of that. I’m sorry if this is heavy an out of no where, but it’s my last night here and I might as well tell you in person.”
  1010. >You were touched.
  1011. >You didn’t believe Anon had some demon that over took him and threatened to spread permanent night across his world. But he was willing to open up that he was also lonely and felt like an angrier part of him was pulling the strings some times.
  1012. >And now it sounds like he wants to help you with the nightmares, if such a thing can be done in this case. He probably means that he will open up more.
  1013. >You smiled.
  1014. “We are honored to hear all of this Anon. In that case what is troubling you?”
  1015. >Anon returned a small smile before putting on a more serious face.
  1016. >”Well, it’s about where I was. I have so many questions about that place, or, if I actually have the answers, if I could truly accept them.”
  1017. >You rose an eyebrow.
  1018. “You mean this ‘dark place’ you keep mentioning?”
  1019. >”Yes.”
  1020. “Well, we wouldn’t want to bother you on such things, especially since you’ve been getting better.”
  1021. >”Really?”
  1022. “Anonymous, we wouldn’t dare to think of pushing you to explain anything you were uncomfortable with. It would probably help us, but we also understand full well how hard it is to communicate about being in such bad places. Just stay in contact, and we can get to know each other better, once you are ready, you will be able to explain every thing.”
  1023. >Anonymous smiled. A real smile.
  1024. >It wasn’t sad like the other ones. It was genuine, you’ve managed to make Anon smile a smile, and it was rather contagious as you could feel your own lips curling up.
  1025. >”Thank you Luna, I really needed to hear all that. I’ll make sure to write to you often, and tell you about my progress.”
  1026. “We’d be happy to read every letter Anonymous!”
  1027. >You looked up into the sky, and noticed that it was almost time to lower the moon, which meant it was also almost time for Anon to get to the train station.
  1028. “It’s almost time for you to depart it seems. I must make my leave, it’s about time to lower the moon. Thank you for opening up to us, and please, practice more on your guitar.”
  1029. >”Of course.”
  1030. >You get up and make your way to the door of Anon’s room, until you’re stopped by him one last time.
  1031. >”Hey Luna!”
  1032. >You turn around to see him standing in the balcony’s door frame.
  1033. >”Would you say we are friends?”
  1034. >What a silly question.
  1035. >You shake your head and smile.
  1036. “Of course we are Anon. Please have a good trip.”
  1037. >Anon smiled and waved you good bye.
  1038. >”Thank you for talking with me Luna.”
  1039.  
  1040. ~~~~~
  1041. >You sat back in your seat, enjoying your hot cup of chamomile.
  1042. >The mountains outside your window moved at a snails pace while the grass and trees in front of them zoomed past you.
  1043. >You boarded this train a good ten hours ago and you were finally, FINALLY, almost home.
  1044. >Just one more hour ‘till Ponyville.
  1045. >One long hour until you got to see Spike or Owlicious again.
  1046. >One hour until you got to introduce your friends to Anon
  1047. >What would they think of him?.
  1048. >Celestia forbid Rainbow decides to tackle him on sight.
  1049. >The thought of Rarity gasping and fainting upon seeing Anon in his state makes you chuckle.
  1050. >”S-so, uh, Twilight?”
  1051. >You look up to Anon sitting right across from you.
  1052. >”What did you say we were going to do when we got back?”
  1053. >You took another small sip from your cup, and placed it back onto its saucer.
  1054. “Well, the rest of my friends should be waiting at the station for us when we arrive. They are probably excited to see you! After we meet up, we were all going to go back to the library and discuss on what we would do next.”
  1055. >Anon nodded.
  1056. >”And, this...library, is where you live?”
  1057. >You gave him a grin and nodded.
  1058. >”Huh! Interesting. Never heard of anyone living in a library before.”
  1059. “Oh, it’s really small and cozy actually. It’s nothing like the larger libraries in cities like Canterlot and Manehatten.”
  1060. >Anon chuckled.
  1061. >”MANE-hatten. That’s funny.”
  1062. >You cocked your head to the side.
  1063. “Is it?” You asked.
  1064. >”Oh, forget about it. Cultural difference thing I suppose.”
  1065. “Ah! I see, I guess.”
  1066. >Anon sat back in his seat and glanced around the cabin and winced.
  1067. >The other Ponies were staring right at him.
  1068. >There was sort of a panic on the train when the passengers were told a mythical creature was being escorted on the train.
  1069. >Even after being told he was being escorted by the Princess of Friendship herself, it still took some convincing for them to calm down and understand they were in no danger.
  1070. >What made it worse was that you were in first class.
  1071. >You got it without thinking about it really, just wanted the perks, but you also had to share with some of the most judgmental and snoody upper class ponies on the face of the planet.
  1072. >They all stared at Anon with suspicious and even sometimes disgusted faces.
  1073. >Knowing Anon, prooooobably not the best cabin to seat him in.
  1074. >Fortunately, there weren’t a lot of ponies in this cabin, and while he didn’t look to be enjoying their stares, he seemed to be getting at least used to it.
  1075. >”I uh...still don’t think they like me. Are you sure I’ll be welcomed in your home town?”
  1076. >You waved a hoof at him.
  1077. ”Pshh! Of course you will! Don’t mind these ponies. Just a bunch of upper class snobs that only care about high society and gossip! The ponies in Ponyville are very accepting and relaxed. Sure they maybe shocked at first, you are mythical after all, but they’ll get used to you quick, and when they do, they’ll accept you as one of their own!”
  1078. >Anon rubbed his hands together.
  1079. >”If you say so. Celestia was right about you Pinkie and Fluttershy, I trust your other friends will be just as welcoming.”
  1080. >You smiled.
  1081. “Glad to hear it Anon. Oh! Hey, Celestia gave you your stuff back didn’t she?”
  1082. >”Yea, this morning. Why?”
  1083. “I want to know a little more about the rectangular thing you have in your bag. Is that one of those smart phones you were talking about?”
  1084. >”Oh! Yea, it is. It’s dead though, out of battery. I’m afraid I don’t have a charger to charge it, or even if I did an electrical outlet. So, it’s just a piece of plastic now. Here, you can hold onto it if you want. Get to study technology from my world, even if it will just be a circuit board and wires.”
  1085. >Anon handed you the small black device.
  1086. >You took it in your magic and looked it over.
  1087. >It was flat on all sides aside from one small button on the right side, and larger button on it’s left with two bumps on them. It was mostly just a black pane of glass with two buttons, and two holes on the bottom.
  1088. “Wow Anon! Are you sure? You mentioned to be able to do a lot of stuff with this thing. Are you really okay giving this to me?”
  1089. >Anon shrugged.
  1090. >”Oh, it’s nothing. Like I said the battery is dead anyways so it’s just a useless piece of plastic. I’m sure you would be able to find a use for it, if only for study.”
  1091. >You smiled and gave Anon a quick hug.
  1092. “Wow! Thank you Anon. It’s so fascinating to hold alien technology in my hooves!”
  1093. >”Heh, don’t mention it.”
  1094. >It didn’t take too much longer until you finally arrived at your stop.
  1095. >Anon offered to help you gather your things. Just a small bag you brought along.
  1096. >Pinkie and Fluttershy already left the train, you can hear them talking to the rest of your friends.
  1097. >”omygoshomygoshomygosh GIRLS! You are all gonna LOVE Nonny! He’s a big ol’ depressing sad pants but he can be so much fun once ya get to know him! He’s a real softy ya know! Oh! Make sure none of you mention anything about his past, it’s all spooky and mysterious and-”
  1098. >”Woah, woah, Pinkie! Calm down, we don’t even know what they hay you’re talking about. Who’s ‘Nonny?’”
  1099. >Ah, that was Rainbow Dash you could hear. You finally make it to the door of the cab and stretch your legs.
  1100. >You take a deep breath in.
  1101. >Home. Gotta love it.
  1102. >Your friends begin to gather round you, Rarity was the first to greet you.
  1103. >”Twilight darling! It is so wonderful to see you back. How was Canterlot? That mythical beast wasn’t too much trouble I hope!”
  1104. >Rainbow hovers over and butts in.
  1105. >”Yea Twilight! I bet you showed that war mongering monkey what for! Sucks I wasn’t there for the fun.”
  1106. “Girls, calm down, one at a time. We didn’t go there to fight him! We were asked by Princess Celestia and Luna to study and help him. Anonymous really isn’t even a dangerous guy!”
  1107. >The moment those words left your mouth, you were stampeded by a horde of terrified Ponies. All of them eager to exit the train car.
  1108. >A few ponies were screaming, one of them saying something about a monster.
  1109. >After the stars and funny birds cleared from your vision, you picked yourself up and dusted your self off. Coughing the dust out of your mouth.
  1110. “Ugh. Wha’ was all that about?”
  1111. >You turned around and witness Anon anxiously stepping out of the car, a look of guilt on his face.
  1112. >”Sorry Twilight, I don’t think the lower class passengers got a chance to see me yet and were shocked when I stepped into their cabin.”
  1113. >Your other three friends stared wide eyed at Anon.
  1114. >Rainbow was giving him a particularly evil eye.
  1115. >Rarity looked like she was going to faint.
  1116. >Apple Jack finally stepped up and spoke.
  1117. >”Uhh. Twi? Is that the Human y’all were sent to...study?”
  1118. “Oh, yes! I guess it’s finally time to introduce you three. Girls, this is Anonymous, the Human who was found wondering the palace gardens over a week ago.
  1119. Anonymous, these is Apple Jack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. They are the rest of my friends, and the three I’ll be making time for you to know while you stay here.”
  1120. >Your friends all stared at Anonymous anxious on how he’d respond.
  1121. >Anon, similarly, was also staring at your friends for a while, before he finally raised on of his hands.
  1122. >”Uhm. Hey. Anon is fine. I’m told I’ll be staying here for the...foreseeable future? Nice to meet you all.”
  1123. >Rarity put her hooves on you.
  1124. >”Yes! Well, it is certainly fantastic meeting such an exotic creature, and all of us are THRILLED you will be staying here and interacting with us! Twilight darling, do you mind of we spoke with you for a bit?”
  1125. “Uhm, sure Rari-WOAH!”
  1126. >Rarity pulled you to the opposite side of the train platform, pulling your face up to meet hers.
  1127. >AJ and Rainbow positioned beside her.
  1128. >”Uhm, Twilight dear, I don’t believe any of us remember you mentioning BRINGING that...thing, back with you. Did you?”
  1129. >Rarity gave a nervous smile, probably hoping for you to say its all a joke or something.
  1130. “That wasn’t the plan initially. However Anon really needs help! He’s actually a really nice Human, I mean think of the position he’s in! Unicorns and Pegasai are myths where he comes from too, and Humans are apparently the only animals that can speak in his world. He’s far from home in a weird confusing environment. I need you all to be understanding towards him.”
  1131. >Rainbow got between you and Rarity and shoved her face right into yours.
  1132. >”Yea? Well, he’s still a human Twilight. And what do Humans do in their stories again? War? Chaos? Murder? Even to each other! They are also masters of deceit, how can we really trust him?”
  1133. “The Princesses trust him. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and I have also spent five days with him and he hasn’t tried to harm any of us once. Hay there have been points where he’s helped us and shown kindness!”
  1134. >”That maybe true sugar cube,” AJ pulls Rainbow back and picks you up.
  1135. >”And Celestia knows, I wanna be reasonable, and I trust ya, but how do we really know he ain’t lookin’ for trouble? Did y’all even figure out how he got here?”
  1136. >You look back over your shoulder to Anon.
  1137. >He was talking to Pinkie and Fluttershy. You had no idea what they were talking about, but Pinkie was laughing, so that was a good sign.
  1138. >You faced AJ again.
  1139. “Well, no. He refuses to talk about it. He refuses to talk about a lot of his personal life actually.”
  1140. >”AHA!”
  1141. >Rainbow pushed AJ aside.
  1142. >”So he IS hiding something from us!”
  1143. >Rainbow’s face promptly made contact with the ground when AJ applied one of her hooves to the back of Rainbow’s head.
  1144. >”Woah Rainbow, calm down now. Let Twi finish. Although, I will admit, does sound awfully suspicious.”
  1145. “Okay, yes, he is keeping a lot from us, but I’m very certain he isn’t trying to spy on us or have any ulterior motives.”
  1146. >You lean your head in and lower your voice down to a whisper.
  1147. “I was going to tell you three this later, in a more private area, but Anon didn’t come to us from the happiest of origins. From the little we’ve been able to get out of him, he has lived a pretty sad and depressing life, on top of that, he was apparently in a darker and more violent place before arriving. Just look at his bruises. And as morbid as it sounds, that isn’t exactly fruit punch staining his hoodie.”
  1148. >Rarity placed a hoof over her muzzle.
  1149. >”My word, that DOES sound unfortunate. But what exactly do you want us to do about all of this?”
  1150. “I need you three to be understanding and help him. I promised the princesses we’d help him settle in and make friends. My hope, is that the more we show him the power of understanding, and the magic of friendship, we’ll be able to learn more about him. Information we could use to help him, or maybe even send him home!”
  1151. >”Ah don’t know Twi. Even if all what you said is true, from they way it all sounds? It’s appearin’ mighty risky.”
  1152. >You couldn’t disagree with your stetson wearing friend.
  1153. >You really didn’t know everything you needed to.
  1154. >But Anonymous is so tame, if a little jumpy.
  1155. >You shook your head.
  1156. “Look, we can do it. We are the Elements of Harmony for a reason. Where he came from, what happened there, and how he got here aren’t important right not. He’s here, he needs friends, and we are ALL going to show him friendship. Alright?”
  1157. >AJ and Rarity nodded but Rainbow dash stuck her nose up and pouted. Crossing her fore hooves over her chest.
  1158. >An intense glare from you was all that was needed to make her change her mind.
  1159. >”Ugh! Fiiine! I’ll help.”
  1160. “Perfect. Now, I still have to get to the Library and unpack. I’m sure Spike and Owilcious are aching to see me again. You three should go and plan to do something individually with Anon! I’ll meet with you three tomorrow morning at breakfast.”
  1161. >Your friends still looked uneasy about this.
  1162. “Don’t worry. Anon is a nice guy, this is how we did things back in Canterlot. We all had a day to ourselves and got to know Anon, and at the end of it all, we all spent a day together! Trust me girls, everything will be fine!”
  1163. >After waiting for Pinkie to say her one thousand good byes to Anon, you took him on a mini tour of Ponyville with a final destination of Golden Oaks.
  1164. >The ponies walking passed seemed a bit irked by Anon, but seeing him close to you probably put them at ease.
  1165. >Weird things happened all the time here, especially when you were around.
  1166. >Seeing a mythical ape that could walk upright right beside you is the kind of anomaly Ponies in this village are just used to now.
  1167. >Just as you expected too. The discomfort in Anon’s face seemed to slide away with every step.
  1168. >The magic of Ponyville hospitality at work. Guaranteed to make your bald monkey feel at home or your money back.
  1169. >”Wow, is that Golden Oaks?”
  1170. >You nodded.
  1171. “Yep! What do you think?”
  1172. >”I honestly didn’t expect Golden Oaks to actually be a...well...an oak?”
  1173. >You chuckled.
  1174. “It’s a part of the charm. Come on, it’s a lot cozier inside!”
  1175. >…
  1176. >”So, let me get this straight.”
  1177. >Spike pinched the bridge of his snout.
  1178. >”We are going to let the fairy tale creature that was found covered in blood wandering the Canterlot Gardens at night stay HERE with us...because he’s sad and needs friends?”
  1179. >You deadpanned.
  1180. “Yes Spike, that is exactly what we are doing.”
  1181. >”Are you sure that’s a-”
  1182. “Yes. Yes I am.”
  1183. >”Well, where is he gonna sleep?”
  1184. >Anon leaned forward.
  1185. >”That is a good question Twilight. Where AM I going to sleep?”
  1186. “We have a guest bed, we usually set it up right across from mine, but I know you love your privacy Anon. We could set it up in the basement. Don’t worry by the way, it has plenty of light and is clean for the most part.”
  1187. >Anon shrugged.
  1188. >”Better than sleeping on the ground or having guards watch you all night I suppose. Thanks.”
  1189. >You smiled.
  1190. “Don’t mention it! We are happy to have you stay over.”
  1191. >You grabbed one of your quills and note pads from the table in the middle of the room.
  1192. “Please make yourself at home. I’m going to be planning out who you’ll be spending time with for the next few days. Oh! And Spike, help Anon out with lunch please. He hasn’t eaten since the train.”
  1193. >Spike responded with a disgruntled “Aye aye, Captain.” and led Anon to the kitchen.
  1194. >You got comfortable on your bed and started planning.
  1195. >Let’s see, AJ first. She’s the most level headed and would actually make an attempt to bond. Even if all she had him do was farm work, it could give Anon some a well needed distraction.
  1196. >Rarity next. You should probably tell Anon to ask her if she could make him some new clothes. The one’s he was wearing were getting very dirty and torn up.
  1197. >A new wardrobe would hopefully be more comfortable and help with his self image.
  1198. >And last is, ugh, Rainbow Dash.
  1199. >Loyal as she is, she can be as stubborn as a mule sometimes.
  1200. >She’d have to be last, hopefully Anon makes a good enough impression on AJ and Rarity that Rainbow would have to come around to giving him a chance.
  1201. >You took out Anon’s phone and looked at it.
  1202. >He said it needed electricity to charge the battery inside it.
  1203. >Maybe you could find a spell that would help with that.
  1204. >You looked over it some more.
  1205. >The screen it self was covered in scratches, some of it broken on the bottom. Not shattered, but you could see some noticeable cracks.
  1206. >You turned it over to see the back.
  1207. >Letter’s that spelled ‘Samsung’ was on the back.
  1208. >That must’ve been the maker of this?
  1209. >The back was also covered in scratches and small dents.
  1210. >It’s edges seemed to have been scraped over small rocks.
  1211. >A small amount of dried blood covered the edges.
  1212. >You frowned.
  1213. pe the good ol’ one two if they try to hurt ya’!” Pinkie exclaimed.
  1214. >A chuckle escapes your lips at this. Your Pink friend was always one to make you laugh even in the moodiest of times.
  1215. >She wasn’t just the life of the party, she was the party. While she can be annoying in someways, you don’t judge her.
  1216. >You’ve even learned to not question all the quirky and weird ways she seems to bend the fabric of reality. Boy wasn’t that a day when you tried to figure out how her tail twitching a certain way could predict objects falling from the sky?
  1217. >Maybe her laughter was also a reason for her to visit.
  1218. >The day dragged on from there, the train slowly making its way to Canterlot.
  1219. >You continue to talk to your friends and ponder how the meeting will take place.
  1220. >Princess Celestia was a little more vague when she wrote to you in her letters. She claimed she would explain everything when you three arrived to the castle.
  1221. >You run through everything she told you in the letters.
  1222. >You don’t know how old this Human is, however Princess Celestia refers to the Human as ‘he’ and ‘him’ so, you know it’s male.
  1223. >She explained that he was found wondering the Canterlot Gardens at night and was found by Princess Luna whilst on one of her little night walks.
  1224. >She explains very strange behavior and being concerned about him. It makes sense to you.
  1225. >How would you react if you were thrown in some different world and had no idea how you got there?
  1226. >This brings you to your next point. How he arrived. Neither of the Princesses know how he arrived in the gardens, and none of the guards on shift seemed to know either. The Human also expresses that he doesn’t know either, or is intentionally leaving out how he did if he knows.
  1227. >He was able to express this by the way, because he knows Ponish! Some how. Ponish is the lingua franca of Equestria and surrounding lands, so it isn’t shocking another creature speaks it, but he’s seemingly out of this world, so knowing the language is very strange.
  1228. >So, you’re dealing with a male human of an undetermined age. Seemingly not from your world at all, with either no memory of how, or the method used to get him here. Or if he does, he isn’t saying. And he speaks ponish. Other than that, and the fact that he isn’t sitting in the dungeon right now for trespassing on royal property is all you know. This last fact gives you relief as it shows the Princesses at least trust him enough to not be in a prison.
  1229. >Now to mentally run through the terms of your visit.
  1230. >Celestia has specifically requested the aid of Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and you, Twilight Sparkle, to come to meet and study this creature for the next week and see what you can get out of him and hopefully ‘offer him’.
  1231. >’offer him’
  1232. >A strange use of words. You assume she means friendship, or advice, or maybe even a way to get home? You don’t know any trans dimensional teleportation spells.
  1233. >Even Starswirled the bearded couldn't take on such a task. Most of his spells like that failed.
  1234. >Princess Celestia also requested that the other three of your friends stay behind. The previously mentioned Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Ra

All Ends With Beginnings Pt.1

by SaltAnon

All Ends With Beginnings Pt.2

by SaltAnon

All Ends With Beginnings Pt.3

by SaltAnon

All Ends With Beginnings Pt.4 (END)

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Monk Anon [This Green has been Abandoned]

by SaltAnon